Rose Raven
by Lithrath
Summary: Raven is a musician, but some eavesdropping and some good intentions later she becomes a fugitive. {Reformatted...chapter 15 continues off original 18} R
1. Die Idee

Chapter 1 

"Quite talented, isn't he?" King Barnesh, ruler of Maren remarked to his guest, an ambassador from Tusaine.

"Quite, your Majesty." The ambassador agreed as the two watched the string quartet on the small dais in the ballroom. The musician in question was the first violinist, a slight young thing who was currently leading the dancers in a spirited waltz.

"A real prodigy, I think. Does my royal cousin have any court musicians such as him?" Barnesh inquired, silently wishing that they did not.

"Not quite, your Majesty, our musicians are a bit more . . .reserved, I'm afraid to say." The ambassador replied as the violinist began a sweeping counter-melody to the rest of the quartet.

Slowly, the dancers turned to watch the string players on the dais as the first violinist began to wind up and down the strings at an ever-quickening pace. The second violinist soon followed the first's lead as the viola and cello kept a semblance of the original tune. Suddenly, with a flourish, the quartet ended the song to the sound of applause from the guests of the ball.

"A good deal more reserved, your Majesty." The ambassador repeated.

Barnesh could only grin contently as the quartet began a slow, alluring song with the air of a tango. Shortly thereafter, the ambassador's wife came to take her husband off to the dance floor. 

'It appears we have a bargaining chip.' Barnesh thought, as he observed the ball that was being held in the Tusaine delegation's honour. His gaze drifted back to the now subdued quartet. 'We do indeed.'

~~

The ball had finished late into the evening, but that didn't mean that Raven could escape so easily. Currently, girls, admirers to be exact, surrounded Raven. 

"You're so talented." One started, "Do you give lessons? I've always wanted to play an instrument."

"Yes, do you, Master Raven?" Another added, latching onto the said musician's arm. Raven on the other hand did not feel flattered; Raven felt repulsed.

"Uh…sorry, I do not give lessons." The uneasy violinist responded as she extricated her arm from the girl's hold. 'Bubble brains, what do you want from me? I'm only 14! And I'm a girl, you dunderheads!' Raven felt like shouting, but instead sent a look to the rest of 'The Roses', who were laughing amongst themselves. 

"Useless fools." Raven muttered under her breath, pulling out of the knot of young girls who were fooled by her disguise. "Sorry ladies, I'd love to stay and chat, but unfortunately I . . . have to go and.. .um, see ya!"

With that, the lithe Raven broke out of the group of girls and slung her violin case on her back. She then proceeded to run down the hall until she saw a window at the end. With a burst of speed, Raven leapt and burst through the shutters as one of the girls called 'Wait!'

The fall from the window, plucked her quartet's green beret from her head, letting loose her long, black braids to splay out behind her. Landing gently, as to not knock the violin strapped to her back, memories hit Raven. You see, Raven used to be a thief up until three years ago when a young nobleman took her in and taught her violin. 

Holding back tears, she bent and scooped up her beret, as that young man was now dead. She dusted the beret off and placed it back on her head, strolling towards her quarters.

" . . .Sure about this?" The sound of a man's voice met Raven's ears, sending her instinctively into the shadows.

"Of course, I'm sure." Another, harsher, voice responded. "He needs to die, no doubt about it. We did not travel all this way to have him flaunt his riches at us. We came on business and if Barnesh is not so inclined to give us what we want then perhaps his heir would be."

"Alright, when will the _negotiations_ begin?" the first voice asked as two men came into sight. One was tall and well built; the other was rather scrawny, in Raven's opinion.

"We'll discuss that with the ambassador later." The tall man spoke; his was the harsh voice. The two then walked onward and Raven came out of hiding when she could no longer hear them.

'What was that all about?' She wondered as she continued to her room, 'Wait . . . what was that about Barnesh and his heir? Uh-oh.' Raven thought as realization dawned on her.

~~~~~~~~

Raven had not slept well. She had tossed and turned all night, as her brain refused to stop speculating what she heard. 'Perhaps his heir would be' sounded a bit more than threatening to her.

She shook her head and exited her room.

Her hair, as usual, was pinned up under a brown beret. She wore a pair of loose green breeches along with a simple tan shirt and green vest. For all appearances she was a young boy out to get his breakfast.

Raven sighed scratching at a pin, she wished that the disguise wasn't necessary but it was, Demetrus had said so. 

'_Remember this Raven, in the palace men and women hold different jobs. As a woman, you'd be restricted to being a servant or cook. As a boy, you can share your talent worry free. No one will _try_ you as well.'_

His words were still in her mind despite the years since his death.

'And thank the Goddess I listened to you Demetrus,' she thought as she remembered the rumour of one of the servant girls and the king. 'Good ol' Sticky Hands.' 

By this time she had reached the servants mess where she and the other 'Roses' ate. Looking in she saw the others laughing and eating. She wasn't quite sure if she should tell them of what she had heard the night before. It wasn't that she didn't trust them; this was just a delicate matter.

Her mind continued its debate as she went to the counter and got her food. She then turned towards 'The Roses" table and arrived just in time to hear the blond Korosh, the cellist, finish another joke as the other two laughed (well, one laughed, the other smiled politely). She rolled her eyes; to Korosh the world was a stage and he was in the spotlight eternally. 

"I hope you gentlemen realize that there is nothing particularly funny about ladies' undergarments fluttering in the wind," she informed them as she sat between Korosh and Draguen, the violist.

"Aw, c'mon, Raven, how can you say that? You know, maybe in two years, you'll find it amusing too." Korosh retorted, turning his blue eyes on her. 

"Actually, in another two years, maybe _she_ would be more mature than that." Draguen pointed out.  He was the one who had smiled politely. 

"And how would you know?" Thetar, the second violinist, asked the blue-haired Draguen. In response, the eldest quartet member merely gave Thetar 'the look' and sipped his tea.  Raven watched the exchange with amusement before her conscious reminded her of the task at hand.

"Um...Draguen's likely correct actually, considering that I _am _female." Raven reminded them quietly. "Uh...There's something important you should know-"

"What...who's the lucky g-?" Korosh started before Thetar clapped his hand over the young man's mouth.

"Continue..." he said once he was sure that Korosh would keep silent.

"Thank you. You know last night how I leapt out the window to escape those...fan girls?" The three men nodded. "Well I heard some things I'd rather not have heard. There's a conspiracy under foot here." With that she told them about the two men and as much as she had gathered. "Well? What should I do?" she asked once she had finished recounting her story.

"There is only one thing to do, inform His Highness." Draguen stated causing the other three to look at him surprised. "We are now privy to a plot against the king, if we do not inform, logically, we could be tried and convicted of treason. Besides, His Highness has provided us with a home, his heir is not quite so fond of music as him."

"Logically." Thetar stated with a grimace. Running a hand through his cropped brown hair, he replaced his green beret on his head and stood. "Well, let's not keep Sticky Hands waiting."

With murmured agreement, the others followed suit while Draguen quietly berated Thetar for 'his lack of respect for one who treated us so kindly.'

~~

"Well, that obviously didn't work." Korosh stated as he massaged his arm where he had been grabbed. The quartet had just approached the King's study when they were (quite rudely, as Draguen put it) thrown aside by the two guards by the door. 

Neither sentry had believed them that what they had to say was of utmost importance after Barnesh's secretary came out to tell them that the king was busy and 'not to be bothered by court entertainers'.

"Obviously..." Raven agreed, "Well we tried, so can I go back to my breakfast?"

"No... there are still approaches we've yet to try." The blue-haired Draguen replied in deep thought.

"What are you suggesting?" Thetar's voice rumbled. Many who had met Thetar could not believe that he played a violin for a living (or that he could join Raven in reckless abandon while doing so). His build, voice and look said blacksmith or carpenter, however Thetar was not one to follow the craftsmen of his family.

"I'm suggesting Raven." The blue-haired man replied quietly as they turned to look at her as the girl fiddled with her vest. The three men exchanged looks of understanding. The oblivious Raven looked up to meet their identical grins.

"Uh, guys...what's with the look?" The three moved in as one. "Um...guys?" she tried again as they herded her towards their wing, where Draguen broke off towards the supply closet.

~~

"I'm not coming out. No way!" she yelled through her door. At first it seemed like a good idea, but now that she looked at herself, uh-uh, nothing would make her come out...except maybe Korosh storming in and physically dragging her out. Which is what he did, while she protested and beat his arm.

"Raven, who knew you cleaned up so well?" He teased once he had deposited her in front of Thetar and Draguen who both nodded in approval.

"I did, which is why I don't!" her long black braids had been undone and her hair had been curled so that it framed her face. Who knew that Draguen was so talented with hair, then again his was pale blue _and_ it looked natural. "I look like a girl." She whined.

"You are a girl, as you had so kindly reminded us this morning. Now stop whining, everything is going to be okay. You just go in, tell him all you know and go out. I don't think Sticky Hands will try anything, you have no curves." Korosh pointed out matter-of-factly.

"You didn't have to rub it in." she replied after swatting at him.

"Raven, please?" Draguen's quiet accented voice cut off anymore banter. "I know you are not particularly happy with this, but honestly, this is the only way without sneaking in." Raven turned her amber eyes onto the tall, blue-haired man, he sounded so…sincere. 

"Alright," she conceded.

"Good, now come with me Raven, it's time to meet ol' Stick- His Highness." Thetar quickly changed the word he was going to use after a glare from Draguen. Thetar was to be her 'escort'. His light brown hair was now dyed coal black and his brandy coloured eyes were now somehow green, likely more of Draguen's 'magic'. On his back was slung Raven's violin case. Seeing her case she raised her brows at him. 

"Expecting trouble?" she asked.

"No more than usual." He replied leading her down the hall. However, Thetar's definition of 'usual' could be quite different than other people.

~~

Raven sat in the king's sitting room feeling out of place. Thetar had been barred from entry, so Raven was alone in the richly adorned room. She shifted nervously as she examined the room. 'Scratch that,' she thought, 'very out of place.' 

She wore a simple linen gown with pale green overcoat, also made of linen. To the untrained eye, Raven could be the daughter of a successful merchant despite the fact that her hands were callused in all the spots of a musician and her nails were un-manicured, in fact, they were quite short. A soft thump brought her to her feet as King Barnesh strode into the room. Upon looking at her he frowned a little bit but quickly hid his disappointment. You see, Barnesh has a thing for a pretty girl, and while Raven was pretty, she was obviously too young. Raven curtsied and introduced herself as 'Miss Katherine', before Barnesh motioned for them to sit.

"So my dear, what brings you here? I was told a young woman wished to speak with me, but you seem more of a child, I'm sorry to say." Barnesh began seemingly bored.

"No harm done, Your Highness," Raven brushed off the comment, "I'm here for your safety. The other day as I was walking through the public gardens, I came upon two men. They seemed to be in deep conversation so I stepped quietly as not to distract them-" _damn! Acting proper was hard._

"Please come to the point," Barnesh cut in.

"Yes, of course, Your Highness. What I meant to say is that those two men were conspiring against you. They said something about your heir likely being easier to negotiate with, than yourself. I came here to warn you, my Liege."

"Ah, yes, thank..." Barnesh's words died on his lips as the large decorate window behind them shattered. In leapt a tall, slim figure clothed head to toe in black. Barnesh grabbed Raven's hand and pulled her to her feet and tore into the inner chambers of his suite as more figures piled into the sitting room. In rushed the guards as Barnesh pushed Raven behind as he locked the door to his bedchamber.

"Is this what you were talking about?!" he cried outraged. She nodded still surprised that the large, elderly king could run so quickly. Said king threw up his hands in frustration as he began hunting through various chests for a sword. Finally he found the weapon and drew it turning to face the door, however, what his companion said next shocked him more than the attack.

ΔΩΔ

Currently reposting this story so that it flows better and so that the chapters do not vary greatly in length.

~S.I-E


	2. beschudigt

Chapter 2 

"Barnesh. I need my violin."

The king turned, incredulous, to look at the girl who had spoken to him so bluntly. "What? A violin, what for?" the elderly king barked outraged, completely ignoring the fact that they _were _in a life threatening situation.

Raven looked at him, amber eyes refracting an inner light. She then held her hands up in the manner of which one would play a shoulder instrument. "I have music magic." Ruby light filled poured out of her curled hands. The king looked at her, questioningly. "You house 'The Roses', most renowned viol musicians for their talent and magic, I happen to be one." There she said it, she then looked at the king who looked at her with anger, as his face grew red.

"You're the first violinist, aren't you?" he strode towards her dropping his sword, obviously upset, "You and your group lied to me and my officials. How-" 

At that moment, both fortunately and unfortunately for Raven, the door broke open with the entrance of one of the black clad assassins. The stench of blood rolled into the room as the black clad figure straightened…only to be felled by Barnesh's jewelled dagger. The king stared at Raven, who had hurled said dagger deep in the assassin's throat.

"Pick it up!" Raven cried as she shoved the king's broadsword into his hand. She then pulled a small knife out of her boot to throw it at another approaching attacker; the knife buried itself in his arm.

Barnesh, who had come to his senses, swung his sword at one of the assassin's. His technique showed that he was a skilled swordsman in his youth, but now in his age was not as quick. This fault was his demise.

The assassin who was swung at ducked under the off-balance sword and brought one of his long knives up to impale the king. To Raven, time slowed.

The king choked and sputtered blood, the ornate broadsword slipping to the floor with a clatter. She looked into the hall. Bodies of the Royal Guard were everywhere. She fell to her knees surprised. The king fell, his limp body leaking blood onto the hardwood floor. The assassin who had done the deed pulled the wicked looking dagger out. The feeling of sticky metal in her hand. She looked and was horrified. The dagger, the king's bane was in her hand. His blood all over her dress. And that was how she was found.

~~

"Raven…imprisoned…Barnesh…dead…" the pained Thetar puffed, as Draguen treated a gash along his side.

"Stop twitching," the blue-haired man demanded, "Why was she imprisoned?"

"Death dagger was in her hand." Korosh stated bluntly. He had brought Thetar to Draguen, after finding the second violinist clutching his arm outside the Royal chambers. The blue-haired violist's demeanour changed drastically with Korosh's words.

"What do you mean 'in her hand'. They think she did it? For Mithros' Sake, she's barely more than a child and a petite one at that!"

"She's nearly fifteen, Draguen and quite capable. You know her past; she was once a thief and enforcer in the Underground Court." Thetar supplied quickly once his pain had been alleviated.

"They don't know that though! Maybe they only want her for questioning," the violist stated, silver-grey eyes wide.

"Hopefully, but until they come to a conclusion, they are going to keep her at provost's prison, regardless of what anyone says." Korosh put in, uncharacteristically subdued.

"Draguen, you need to calm down. Raven can take care of herself." Thetar added, hoping to calm the violist.

"Take care of herself, she sure did." The blue-haired man muttered turning his metallic eyes out to the night.

*~~~~~~~~~~~*

A year had passed since that rainy day when Raven had been taken in. She had been questioned, beaten and threatened for information. Information of which she did not have. It had been decided that Raven was not the king's killer, but the true assassin's accomplice. For that, Raven was given her year to help find the assassin, and she was grateful, even if she had only been sparred by the idea that one such as her could not slay one such as Barnesh. The assassin, however, was not found, and the people demanded justice. So Raven was to be executed.

So now she sat in her cell, waiting for the death that would come on the morrow. 

'I hate my life,' she thought, looking up as the door to her corridor was opened. Examining the silhouettes by the door, she realized that she knew three of them, the fourth being somewhat unfamiliar. The figures entered the hall, stopping in front of her cell. It was the rest of her quartet, along with whom she guessed was her replacement. She looked at them unsure, never had all of them come to see her, usually one would come every week to inform of the happenings of Maren and the surrounding countries. But never more than one, who usually happened to be Korosh or Draguen, Thetar only came recently for he had been too ashamed earlier to see her after he had, in his perspective, abandoned her.

From these talks she learned of many things, of the many betrothals that had been flying about, of events that 'The Roses' had been invited to and most importantly the aftermath of Barnesh's death. Apparently, when the assassins had broken in, Thetar had helped the guards push them back but was pushed out when injured, however, he had left her violin at the Suite because he could not fight with it on his back. Thetar had also spoken with the investigators and they believed his testimony concerning himself, but would not listen to a word he said to assist Raven. Another thing that she found amusing in it's own light, was that the said violin had been locked up with various weapons as it was thought to be dangerous.

The one thing that burned in her mind was the knowledge that grain was being shipped to Tusaine by the cartload now. Was it not a delegation from Tusaine that was present at the time of Barnesh's death? Could they be the ones who had sent the assassin? These questions were put out of her mind when Korosh spoke.

"Raven," she looked at him. "I wish there was something I could do...."

"We all do," Thetar put in rather quietly, sounding like faraway thunder.

"Raven, no matter what happens tomorrow, know this: we will make sure that the ones responsible will be brought to justice before any of us pass from this world." That was the new violinist, Cairn; a twenty-something who believed chivalry was key in survival.

 Raven felt like she would begin to cry, someone who she had met only once or twice before, pledged to give her justice; she felt unworthy of such loyalty. She had failed at stopping the assault on Barnesh, failed, and yet they did not despise her. Why? Everyone else did. _Every else did not know you,_ The voice of Demetrus, her mentor, resounded in her head.

"And they don't know me now," she muttered, receiving looks of worry from the four young men on the other side of the bars, "I'm sorry I let you down."

"But you did not," that was Draguen, her guardian and friend of the late Demetrus. He took her hand, "Raven look at me!" she did "I swore to keep you safe, it is I who have failed, not you. Do not pass from this world angry with yourself; the Black God does not take kindly to souls of resentment and shame. Instead think of your successes and know that there will be time for you yet." He withdrew his hand, leaving a small metallic object in her fist. She opened her fist to reveal a key.

"How...?" she started. 

"Thank, Korosh," the violist said as he stood pushing the blond cellist forward as he did so. Then Draguen backed off with Thetar and Cairn, giving the two of them some privacy.

"Korosh, how did you get the key?" Raven asked looking carefully at the cellist. His face, especially his nose, seemed a bit flushed. His breath had the scent of ale.

"Ah, yes, about that...well...uh, me-and-the-warden-had-one-too-many-but-unfortunately-I-nearly-did-myself-in, in the process of doing so." He explained rather quickly.

"You got him drunk." She stated bluntly, he nodded, "and then you took his keys."

"Only yours." The mildly hung-over Korosh responded. "I should go now, don't worry, the warden's at home and the guard outside is asleep, thanks to another concoction by Draguen." He turned to leave but stopped. "I'm going to miss you, Raven. You won't be able to stay in Maren after word gets out that you escaped." 

He came close to bars and cupped her cheek. She looked at him confused, he seemed so...sad. He brought his head down low and gave her a soft, tentative kiss. "Don't forget me." And with that he was gone.

Raven brought a hand to her lips and grinned, her first kiss and in what a place and from what a guy.

After a few moments, she quietly managed to open her cell. Quickly she found her way past the drugged guards and into a storage room; one full of things for discharged prisoners. Finding a spare pack, she set about preparing herself some provisions for her inevitable journey. She then snatched some spare tunics that were roughly her size and coupled that with some breeches and skirts. She changed out of her prison garb and then wrapped a cloak that she found about herself. Slinging the pack onto her back, she then went down the hallway and peeked into another room. She had a bad feeling that she would need some sort of weapon before she would be able to find a place she could live in peace.

Slinking into the room, she looked about herself. She was in the warden's office. The walls were lined with locked cabinets. Approaching one, she put her hand over the lock and concentrated. Suddenly a long forgotten tune came to her. It was from her thieving days, a lock picking song that was sung by members of the Underground Court. Remembering the song, she hummed a quick phrase from the chorus and her palm glowed a faint ruby colour. Tugging on the lock, she realized that she had picked it with song.

"Now that was odd." She remarked quietly to herself. 

Opening the cabinet, she looked in pleased. She had picked the right one. Various forms of daggers lined the cabinet's shelves, doors and sides. Selecting a few that were in relatively good condition she shoved a few in her pack and hung two on her belt (courtesy of the storage room). Closing and relocking that cabinet she moved to the next and repeated the actions that had opened the first. The one held projectiles and long range weapons. From here she picked up a collection of darts that were are curiously labelled with things like 'paralysis' and 'frost'. 

Closing and locking that cabinet she stepped back. Thetar had told her that they had confiscated her violin, could it be here? Opening her mind, she concentrated on her violin. How she felt when she practised and when she performed. There. To her left. She placed her hand on the cabinet that the feeling emanated from. Putting her hand on the lock, she hummed the snippet of song. 

Nothing happened.

"Open up, you bloody thing." She hissed at the lock. Thinking of another song from the Underground Court, she hummed a few bars from one about a demon-thief who and could get what ever they wished. To her delight, the locked popped open and she reached inside to find her instrument.

'That's better,' she thought, closing the cabinet and settling her violin case on her back. Exiting the room, she placed the key of her cell of the sleeping guard's table and walked into the night. 

'Now what shall I do? I can't stay in Maren, obviously.' Going over her options in her head she decided. Tortall. It seemed the most logical choice. No blood feuds, crazy monarchs, or inter-clan wars. Also it was in riding distance, had decent weather and from what she heard, they had a Rogue much like the Underground Court.

That decided, she slipped into the stable attached to the small detention centre where she had been kept. Looking over the few horses that were there, she saddled a grey gelding who seemed able to withstand the journey. She also thought that no one would miss him, the poor beast had a notice pinned to his gate stating that he was to be 'taken home or exterminated'. Leading, the gelding back out into the night, she mounted silently thanking Thetar for teaching her how to ride. Gathering her bearings, she turned the horse west, to Tortall.

ΔΩΔ

  



	3. verzögert

Chapter 3 

She had trundled along the road for many weeks. Over this time period, Raven relearned her instrument of choice, the violin, and now was comfortable with it once more. She had travelled through Tusaine with little more difficulty than the temperamental people and weather, and now neared the border of Tortall. Topping the rise, she looked down into the valley to see the River Drell wind along a few miles away. As she took in the view something caught her eye, or more like a few someones.

Leading her horse slowly down the path, she came to be in between two walls of granite when she saw it again. Checking above her she brought her the gelding to a stop. Dismounting she watched above her. She stood there for a moment, concentrating on the rock that mounted high into the sky on both sides of her. Then she saw them. Bandits. Crawling along on either side of the path. Their eyes fixed on her person.

'They must believe me an easy catch,' she thought to herself, as she pulled down her violin case. The bandits came closer to the edge; one lifted a bow. She opened the case to reveal her own form of bow along with her red-tinted violin. 'Maybe we shall try that new spell, eh Julian.' She thought to the gleaming, crimson instrument. 

Lifting the instrument, she tucked it under her chin and dragged the bow across the strings in a low trembling G. She looked towards the archer, who had taken aim but had yet to fire. Grinning, she began to ascend to an E_b_ with the same foreboding tone, once there she began to pick her way through a slow melody with harmony by way of double-stops. The archer lowered his bow a little, releasing the tension. Raven looked at the young bandit through the corner of her eye, she had made him unsure and the others at least confused. It was all the sign she needed.

She took in a breath and opened her mind, closing her eyes against the world as she let her magic flow out into the notes. Continuing a bit more confidently, Raven edged her horse into a safer position by backing into it, letting her music be her guide. 

High above Raven, the bandit leader glared at the enthralled young archer. The young man however did not react, nor would he fire, by the lead bandit's reckoning. Taking out his own crossbow, he signalled to the other group to begin to move in. He himself notched his bow.

Raven however did not see this; she felt it. As she continued with her coy, legato melody, she felt the vibrations in the air created by Julian, her violin, be returned to her. The bandits were closing in. Drawing in another breath, she drew up a small ball of power with a sudden crescendo. The bandit leader, however, was not amused and took aim. Raven turned towards the click of his crossbow and opened her eyes to him. Instead of their usual amber colour, they were red, like Julian.

'This power...' Raven felt as though she was loosing touch with her body, but she played quicker and fiercer. The notes seemed to flow out on freely, as the sound wafted over the clearing followed by a ruby light. 'No matter, we have a task.'

She turned her attention onto the approaching bandits, locking her crimson eyes onto the nearest few; she accented the notes as she descended. To her delight and surprise her spell music caused them to freeze in their tracks. Turning to the other bloc of approaching bandits she reset her bow and repeated the action, they also stopped as though turned to stone.

'One more left,' she thought as she stepped out to look at the bandit leader who was in the midst of warding himself. 'That's not acceptable. Let's try something new, Julian.'

She rolled her bow to the E string bringing her hand to the fifth position; descending at lightening pace from the piercing F to a low A on the G. In response, the ruby light about her came in tightly and then flared again like a fire receiving new oxygen. Ascending to middle C, she hesitated for a moment in thought, 'What shall we do...?'

Continuing with her original melody only much quicker, she thought of arrows. Sharp, flaming arrows. Concentrating on the bandit leader's shield, small fire arrows formed out of her magical aura to rain down in volleys onto the ward. 

After what seemed like ages to the tiring Raven, the ward flickered and then collapsed. The bandit leader loosed the bolt that he had prepared through the magical fire. Upon nearing Raven, it incinerated, crushed by the ruby flame.

The bandit leader rolled to his feet and ran to the side in an attempt to evade the arrows causing Raven to play more insistently, almost impatiently. 'Why won't you stay still, dammit!?'

With one last triumphant trill, Raven's magical energy over took the fleeing bandit rendering him unconscious. The entire episode had Raven's horse trying to bond with the rock face; he was scared!

Pulling Julian out from under her chin she sighed pulling the ruby light back into her. Once it had all gone back to from whence it came, her eyes returned to their normal amber. Placing the crimson violin back into 'his' case, she then swung it back onto her back. 

"Hush, it's okay." She said to the trembling grey gelding, after the animal had calmed down, she approached him and mounted turning him back towards their original destination.

Setting the horse into motion, she continued on her way into Tortall. Coming down into the River Drell Valley, she came upon the camp of the bandits. Sneaking into the camp she came upon a tent that interested her. Retrieving some more food, she snuck back to her horse and to put the eatables into her saddlebags. The gelding gave her a 'look'; she glared back.

"All things considered, I don't think they'll be missing it much."

Remounting, she turned her horse back to the path.

ΔΩΔ


	4. Vermeidung

Chapter 4 

His Royal Highness Gaile of Maren, duke of Avery, servant to the throne of Tusaine, sat bored as a councilman droned on about tariffs. Once the man exited he turned to his personal messenger, or nuncio as they were called in Maren court.

"Has there been any news of the fugitive?" the king asked his personal nuncio.

"Not yet, milord. Our messengers should have reached the other courts and spread the word of the girl's status." The nuncio, a young man in plain clothes replied. "We did, however, receive some interesting news from His Majesty of Tusaine."

"Well, what did he say?" Gaile asked impatiently, wondering what his master wished for him to know.

"Apparently, on their border with Tortall, close to the River Drell Valley, the bodies of several bandits were found. The bandits, apart from the leader of the group, were all frozen as though made of stone." The nuncio paused, "They believe 'twas the girl who did this. The investigators found traces of music magic at the site, milord."

"Well, at least we know where she is heading then." The puppet king nodded. "Excellent work, Cairn. You may go now." The nuncio bowed and left without a sound.

"Tortall..." Gaile thought of the country with distaste. In his opinion it was a wretched place where thieves became nobles and woman were allowed to fight. "And where the little brat thinks she'll be safe." He added out loud. Striding over to his desk he pulled out a piece of parchment and wet his quill. Formulating the words in his mind, he began to write.

~~~~~~~~

"Come on Stone, you've been drinking for at least the past half-a-hour. I didn't make you ride that hard." The teenaged girl told the grey gelding. "Besides, you should be grateful to me. If I hadn't come and taken you from your stable, you'd likely would have been ground up, sold to some dog breeder, eaten, digested and now have your being spread throughout Maren as dog dung. And now that I have reached my preferred country, the same could happen, 'cept you'd be spread throughout Tortall instead."

The gelding, Stone, raised his head and looked at the violinist with a look that on a human would have said _Fine, you win._

Smiling, Raven approached the horse and stroked his mane. "Not that I'd do that to you, now that I've named you." The horse looked pointedly at her, slightly put off at her odd sense of humour. "Well, I guess we should—damn." Pulling the horse back into the brush, she looked out cautiously at what had made her hide herself abruptly.

Two men, clad in 'casual armour', walked along the opposite side of the bank talking. From their gait, Raven deduced that they were likely knights, bored out of their minds at being posted to a peaceful area. The pair came with in earshot; the redheaded man complaining to the slight, brown haired one with many freckles beside him about various things.

"But why are all of us out here." The redhead was saying, waving his about for emphasis. "I could be at home with my wife and son right now—as I should be—but I'm stuck here."

"Would you really want to be home at the moment Merric? We have a dangerous fugitive to look out for. You heard the message we got from that Tusaine messenger. This fugitive turned twenty bandits into stone and was part of the assassination plot against Barnesh." The freckled man reminded him. 

"Yes, I did hear the message Esmond, but I think that sending more than two well-trained knights is a bit extensive for one little girl, despite how magical or devious she is." Merric put in. Raven did not appreciate being called a little girl or being underestimated, but stayed hidden when Stone lightly tugged one of her braids. 

"Perhaps, but would you rather be out here or have the deadly, little bugger sneak into Corus?" the brown haired Esmond countered. Raven didn't appreciate being called a bugger either, but stayed silent about it. If they were indeed looking for her, then bringing their attention to herself would not be wise, simply because she felt insulted.

The two continued to walk and talk, going over the details they were meant to watch for, before moving onto more casual topics such as the previously mentioned son. As the two moved out of earshot, Raven considered her now limited options. She had previously considered trying to find employment in Corus as a court musician, but now that sort of dream had been crushed in a few short lines of dialogue.

One thing stuck out in her mind though, the way they had described her. Apparently, apart from the fact that her eyes were amber, they were to watch for a pale girl of possible K'miri descent, whose hair was kept in many thin, long braids. Touching her hair, she felt the long thin braids that started like cornrows atop her head. It was settled then, the hair would have to go. Grimacing, for despite her previous disguise Raven was quite fond of her braided hair, she drew a dagger.

Then in the cover of the forest, Raven severed the braids in clumps so the once she had undone the cornrows, she was left with very wavy, rough-cut hair to her earlobes. She then spread the excess hair about in a 'natural' fashion so that next time someone passed through they would think nothing of the black hairs that were scattered seemingly aimlessly about.

Tucking the dagger back into her boot, as she had used it to chop the severed braids into little bits, she peeked out of the forest again to look across the bank. Satisfied with the lack of patrol there she returned to Stone and remounted turning the grey gelding deeper into the forest towards what looked like a forest trail.

"I don't understand…how do they know we're here?" Raven asked the gelding Stone. After being together for many weeks, she had become attached the animal, and often spoke to him. The horse gave a shake of his mane, almost as if saying, '_How should I know?'_

The girl sighed, she should know better than to ask a horse. Honestly, this journey was driving her mad. Shaking her head at her foolishness, she turned her eyes back onto the thin forest path on which she travelled. Up ahead, the trees parted to reveal a meadow bathed in sunlight. Reining Stone as the approached the gap, she dismounted and peered out into the light. She had come upon a small village.

Leading the gelding out of the forest, she squinted as the sun assailed her forest-light adjusted eyes. The village was rather tiny, more of a hamlet really. Looking across the field she spotted a couple of barns amongst the tilled land, some homes and what was likely the inn and administrative office where any children would attend school. Carefully examining the minute community, she picked her way along the forest edge pondering what she should do.

Should she go into the village? Should she ride on? If she approached the village, what would happen? What if the people knew about her, would she run? Fight? Submit?

No. She would not submit, but she did not feel like being in anymore trouble than she already was. It was decided, she would approach, but if anything happened to indicate otherwise she'd bolt.

Come Stone, let's see what these people know." Gently tugging on the reins, she led the gelding towards the little village. Maybe the said people could help her figure out who had set up the assassination plot, even if they were unaware to the parties involved. 

ΔΩΔ

  



	5. Freund?

Chapter 5 

"What do you mean, no sign of her?" the irritated Duke of Avery asked.

"Exactly that, milord. There is neither hide nor tale of the lass." Cairn replied voice laced with disappointment. "You know, I'm beginning to think that she's dead." He added.

"Would be best if she was. She knows, Cairn. She knows about the assassins and I wouldn't put it past the brat to link them to us." Duke Gaile of Avery muttered, all kingliness forgotten. "I'm sure you've heard about musical instruments sharpening the mind. Gods, I've seen what playing one has done to you."

"Ah, yes. About that sir, I have a gig tonight and will not be here to attend you after the eighth hour of the afternoon. You do not mind, I may be able to retrieve some more information on the girl's character from her friends."

"You mean those 'Roses' boys, who play at court sometimes with you? Very well, you may go." The monarch dismissed. The young man bowed and headed towards the door. "One more thing Cairn." The young man stopped. "There's a music competition at the Royal Palace in Corus of Tortall, in a fortnight's time. You may enter yourself or the quartet there." 

Bowing once more to the puppet-king, Cairn turned once more and stepped into the hall. Heading to his room, he stopped by the kitchens to snag himself some rolls for an early dinner. After being chased out by some rather miffed cooks, he ambled into his room, unlikely thoughts swirling in his head.

'I promised her that the ones responsible would be brought to justice before I pass from this world. Is that possible really? One does not accuse well respected gentlemen of assassination, that's unthinkable even if it's true.' Rubbing his temples he sighed and bit into a roll. 'As long as this whole thing finishes sometime soon.' Finishing off the rolls, he wiped off his hands and found his instrument and music. 

~~~~~~

Don'cha worry, my lad," the elderly farmer said beckoning, "you don't need to go hiding yesself in my crops." Slowly, Raven stepped out from behind the corn plants into the path between rows. The old man held up his hands in front of him. "See, I won't hurt ye," he continued, "now why don'cha tell me here why you was in my field."

Unsure, Raven shifted uneasily, not quite sure how to begin. Stone nudged her, making her speak.

"I...my...uh…" she blushed a bit, an idea came to her, "I'm...lost." she finally said.

"Lost?" The farmer grinned, "well, then I suggest you come back wiv me, lad, so that we can find your way on one of my old maps." The old man picked up the basket by his feet. "Come along now, I think we can find a spot for your grey brute as well." Turning the old man (who thought Raven was a boy, to her amusement) walked down the path towards an old looking house.

Gently tugging on Stone's reins, Raven followed the friendly old man.

~~~~~~

"Here, have some more tea," the elderly woman—correction Rosanna, Raven thought—pouring more of the brew into Raven's mug.

"Thank you," she replied, turning back to the map that the elderly farmer—correction Jeremy—had spread out on the table. She took a sip of the hot tea and set the mug down. Rosanna went back to the hearth and stirred the pot of stew.

"Now, lad, where did ye say you was going?" Jeremy asked.

"I didn't...I was heading to Corus but," Raven thought of the knights looking for her, "I think I'll try to find work else where."

"Work, eh?" the man asked, "what kind?"

"Oh, didn't I say? No, I guess not. I'm a musician but I am capable of more than just that." It wasn't a lie really, but Raven did not really think that music would help her too much in the capital.

"A musician...hmm...too bad, I need some help tugging in the harvest now that I'm getting old." Jeremy stated, obviously trying to get her to sign up for work with him, despite only having an hour's acquaintance with her. Raven decided to play along; assisting this man would give her time to think and the possibility of coin.

"Jeremy, if you wish, I could stick around for a bit to help, I don't need to reach Corus by a certain date and I need some time to figure out what I'll do once I'm there."

"Would ye?" the farmer lifted his head to look at the girl, who nodded in reply. "Well, then it's settled. Rosanna," he called his wife over, "this lad-."

"Lass." Raven clapped her hands over her mouth, oops. The old couple looked at her short hair, grinned and continued as though she hadn't spoken.

"This _lass_, will be staying wiv us for a bit, while we bring in the harvest. Can ye unlock the guest room, please?" The man continued. Rosanna nodded, motioned for Raven to follow and proceeded up the steps. As Raven followed the woman, Jeremy cleared the table and began to put bowls, spoons and cups.

~~~~~

"Here's your room."

Raven looked around the guestroom in awe. Everything in the room suggested something other than 'farmhouse', but then again everything Raven had noticed about the couple said money.

"It's lovely," she said quietly depositing Julian (in his case of course) by the foot of the bed. She looked about the room again and grinned. "I've never had a room so nice."

Rosanna raised a brow while her eyes twinkled with amusement. "Well, that definitely makes me feel special. I designed it." The woman said. Raven looked at her surprised. "I'm more than just a farmer's wife, as you may have picked up on from my speech." 

Indeed the woman spoke rather clear and cultured sounding more like an upper class merchant then her current status. Raven nodded with a small grin and then walked back over to the woman by the door. The two descended the stairs as Rosanna talked about her family, a predominant cloth merchant clan in Tortall, while Raven listened intently.

"Dinner is served." Jeremy announced as the two entered the dining area. On the table was three steaming bowls of beef stew and a cut up loaf of bread with some butter next to it. He seated Rosanna and then sat himself, while Raven looked at the food. She hadn't had anything that smelled this good in weeks!

Jeremy said a quick prayer to the Great Gods for prosperity and then they began to eat as the Sun set.

~~~~~~~~

Cairn entered the inn where 'The Roses' would be performing. The quartet no longer played anything quite as excited as when Raven was about, but they still quite popular. Even more so, he liked to think, as some of the more conservative music-goers gave the young quartet a chance. He trotted over to the small stage where the other three were setting up.

"Sorry, I'm late." He apologized.

"It's no matter," Korosh replied blandly. He had acted this way since they last saw Raven at the jail...as though part of him died after that day. Draguen and Thetar also seemed less alive, despite the fact that they knew that she was alive. Thanks to a parting gift from the late Demetrus,  that is.

Is this what people are like when a friend goes missing? Do they give up part of their life? Cairn pondered that for a moment, before setting up his own things. 

Once that was done, they played late into the night for the inn's patrons. After they packed up, Cairn told them about the competition that Gaile had informed him of (he left out that it had been Gaile who had told him). 

At first, they other three were unsure about it, but after the mention of the competition's locale, Korosh seemed to warm up to the idea, enough that the other two were convinced into come. Apparently, the famous quartet had never been to the Tortallan palace and decided that the journey was worth the end destination. So they packed, sent message to Gaile and then drew up their route on one of Thetar's many maps. They would set out in the morning.

ΔΩΔ

  



	6. Guten Morgen!

Chapter 6 

                "I trust that you slept well, Katherine." Rosanna said as Raven descended the stairs from her bedroom, rubbing her eyes. 'Katherine' was the alias she used in this town, as there was no use in putting herself in further danger by using her real name. In response Raven nodded and sat at the table in her half-asleep daze. She looked out the window as the older woman put some bread, cheese and egg before Raven; the sky was still dark. 

Ugh! Why did Jeremy have to insist that they start so early? Seeing the look on her face, Rosanna slid down to the bench across from Raven.

"You start early in the morning, so you can get as much work done before the burning hours of the day. Now eat up, you will need your strength for the work that's planned for today." 

With that the elderly woman smiled and rose to go tend to Stone, who was in a cleared out and altered shed. 

It had been a week since she had met the couple and they had already settled into a routine. Get up before dawn, eat, work in the fields till lunch, eat, practice violin, free time, dinner, bed. It seemed simple enough, but she knew that she had to be careful when around other people. She had already received a stare from someone when she was in the fields with Jeremy on her first day.

Raven sighed, shook such thoughts from her head and ate the food that Rosanna had prepared for her. She didn't _like_ to deceive these people who were so kind to her, but it was necessary. If they knew who she really was, who knew what would've happened. Pushing away from the table, she took her plate and fork over to the tub used for washing dishes and scrubbed the pair clean before drying the dishes. She then put the plates, cups and cutlery back in their respective places before dragging the washtub outside to dump the wash water. After putting the tub back, she wandered into the field to find Jeremy.

~~~~~~~~

"We may get to go home soon," Esmond told the redheaded knight as he entered the tent. Said redheaded rolled over to look at him, mild irritation on his face.

"It's already morning?" he asked stretching, obviously not hearing the other knight's comment.

"Its just past dawn, but did you hear what I said: we may get to go home."

"Wha…when did this happen? Did they find the girl?" Merric asked, waking at the idea of going back to Hollyrose.

"They decided that if she was coming to Tortall, she would have already made it here. So no, the girl is not caught but it's believed that she may have remained in Tusaine." Esmond responded sitting across from Merric while the other knight pulled his tunic on.

"So are all of us going to be set free from border patrol, or are some unlucky few going to be stuck behind?" Merric asked. He wanted to go home, see his wife and son; actually _be _a father. The past year had been rather busy, what with the princess Lianne marrying to Barnesh's death and another collection of minor problems.

"There will be some who will stay behind, but those with kids are being sent home for sure." Esmond replied grinning at the way his friend's face lit up. "Yes, you get to see your wife and demon-child again." 

"He may have immortal blood, but that does not make him a demon, Esmond." Merric told his friend sternly.

"I wasn't referring to _that, _I was referring to the time when the kid burned off my eyebrows when he was two. Now hurry up, I want to go eat breakfast before it gets cold." With that the freckled knight stood and strode out of the tent, Merric following him into the early morning light.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Morning everyone!" Cairn called out, happy to be away from the palace for more than a day or two. In response Thetar growled, Draguen covered his head with his pillow, while Korosh threw his pillow at the violinist.

"Shut up, Cairn…" the blond cellist said sleepily, "its barely past dawn." He however did commence to get dressed.

"So you're not morning people," Cairn stated. Despite knowing the other three men for just over a year, he still had many things to learn about them. Like exactly what they knew about Raven; she hadn't actually written them. No, she was far smarter than that, but something in Draguen's behaviour told him that the blue-haired man knew that the girl was both alive and well. Going over to the blue-haired man, he crouched and poked him in the ribs. 

"Ow! Now why did you do that?" he asked irritably, "you haven't wanted to get an early start all this week, so what's so special today?"

"A storm's coming and I'd like to reach the next town before nightfall. I'm not fond of sleeping in the mud." The younger man stated crouching next to the massive Thetar. Carefully he prodded the second violinist, and yelped when the man slammed his fist down on Cairn's toes.

Draguen shook his head in amusement, he really should have warned Cairn that Thetar was rather fond of sleeping and was a really bear in the morning. Looking over at the pair, Draguen dressed and packed up his sleeping roll and such. Cairn finally managed to talk Thetar into getting up, if only to stop the violinist from singing. 

Striding out of the tent he looked at Korosh who was crouched over the fire, preparing breakfast. Sitting down next to the teen, he stretched and looked at what was for breakfast. Satisfied, he stood and got out the required dishes. Bringing them back to Korosh, the youth looked up and grinned as he began to dish out breakfast.

"Hungry?" the cellist remarked taking in the violist's actions.

"Yes; now give me my food." Draguen stated snatching his share of the egg and sausages, he then grinned; it appeared that he could a real bear in the morning too.

ΔΩΔ

  
  



	7. Alle im Westen

Chapter 7 

"Jeremy," Raven called into the field, "what are we doing today?"

"Same thing we've done everyday," he called back from the rows of corn. "Grab another pannier before you come in here though."

" 'Kay!" she yelled back before trudging over to the shed. The shed was rather large actually, being more of a small barn. Opening the door, she was greeted with a whinny.

"Morning Stone," she replied, the horse snorted in return. "You're so impatient. Don't worry, you won't be living here forever...just until I decide what we do next." The gelding snorted again; Raven ignored him this time. Finding the requested pannier, Raven went back to the shed's door patting Stone's nose on the way.

Right before she was about to exit, she heard the sound of a galloping horse. The rider stopped, Raven pulled back into the shadows and peered out cautiously. The rider looked official to her. Dressed in finery that she had only seen on nobles and royalty's eunuchs, the man dismounted and headed towards the house that she had left only a half hour before. 

Rosanna answered the door and talked with the man, sometimes nodding, sometimes shaking her head. The man then gave a stiff nod and turned towards the fields...closer to her. Setting the pannier down she drew back inside the shed and watched the man from a small window. She saw Jeremy come out of the field and repeat the same actions as his wife. The man then stepped away, gave a nod of his head, handing Jeremy a roll of parchment. He then went back to his horse, remounted and proceeded to trot down the road.

Sighing audibly, Raven picked up the pannier and stepped out of the shed, carrying the basket over to the farmer. 'What if the found out about me!' she suddenly thought. 'What do I do? Whoa, calm down girl, just relax and act natural.' Jeremy had cracked the message's seal and wide smile sliding across his face. Upon seeing her, he waved her over.

"Yes?" she asked tentatively. Oh no, they knew didn't they?

"Katherine, it believes you are more popular than you give yourself credit for." He began, the grin never leaving his face.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked setting down the pannier.

"It means, that you've been invited to the palace." He stated simply with a bit of laughter. Raven's jaw dropped, she had always wanted to see the Tortallan Royal Palace, in fact she and the other 'Roses' had planned a trip there, and now she was invited and-wait! Shit, curses upon curses! She was a fugitive, so they had likely found out about her and 'invited' her. She would be shipped back to Maren and executed. There was no way she was going!

"Why?" she finally managed to croak; she knew her horror was clearly written on her face. Seeing her look, Jeremy laughed.

"Oh don'cha worry lass, it's only a music competition. 'Parently, one of the grain transporters heard ye practicing one day and word found it's way to the younger prince's ear that a talented musician was wasting away on a farm." He said glee plainly writ on his face. "Prince Liam. It's his birthday in six days and he's a big fan of the arts. Last year it was a art exhibition, this time it's music."

"Oh..." she said in disbelief, so this wasn't her doom...but if she went someone was bound to recognize her.

"You don't have to stick with me, kid, you could go and enter the contest. There's prize money and popularity that goes along with it; you could be a musician without a sponsor and be comfortable too. Think about it." He said. He obviously wanted her to go and check it out. She looked at him unsure. "I'm not tossing ye out, you can always come back and stay wiv me and Rosie if ye want."

She nodded; she would check it out. It was a stupid idea, but at least if she was caught she would likely have a chance to prove her innocence. Draguen had said that the Tortallan king was more just then both Barnesh and Gaile. 

"Alright," she agreed. "When do I have to leave?"

"We'll leave tomorrow. Corus is only three and a half days of hard riding from here, so we should make it in time. We can register ye when we get there and then go find an inn."

Raven nodded again and then grinned up at Jeremy. "Y'know, "she said mimicking his accent, "them corn won't harvest themselves." Jeremy laughed and the two went into the field to pick as many ears as they could before lunch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gaile paced, no word on the girl. The Tortallans had found nothing, same with the Tusench. It was as though she had disappeared. Growling in frustration, he sat down at his desk and rummaged through the papers on his desk. Finding the note, he glared at what it said:

_'-Gaile,_

_We are going to Tortall for the competition. If I can find out anything important, I'll send word. We left this morning._

_-Your loyal servant,_

                                                  Cairn   ' 

'Loyal servant, my ass,' the king thought crumpling the week old note. He hadn't received a single peep from Cairn since he left. Not only that but if the boy really did respect him, then shouldn't he refer to him by title, not name. Why did being king have to be so difficult?

Sighing, he looked out the window into the rain. He knew the answer.

"It's difficult because it's not the Gods' will." He muttered to the downpour.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Packing, packing. Home, I will be soon." Merric sang as he gathered all his stuff together. 

Esmond shook his head at his friend's actions, while he'd admit, that being taken off border control would be a nice change, it was not as if they'd be idle long. Before they could go to their fiefs, duchies or baronies, they needed to stop by Corus for the younger prince's birthday. This year it was a music competition and Esmond seemed to find the event most fitting for the current happenings. After all, what better way to find a fugitive musician, than to hold a competition with a considerable prize?

Esmond nodded in satisfaction with the plan, they were not being let off; they were being brought back to watch for the murderer.

"Are you finished?" Merric's voice broke into his thoughts. Esmond looked at his friend whose packs were are sealed.

"Almost, just give me a moment." He responded, Merric nodded and dragged his bags outside.

Esmond quickly packed all his belongings and brought his stuff outside the tent with a bit of unease. While he approved of His Majesty's plan, did he really have to put his family in danger? What if the assassin did show up, what would they do? She could likely turn them into stone in an instant. No, that wouldn't happen. There were too many strong mages lingering about for that to happen.

Tossing his stuff onto the wagon, he went to fetch his horse. Man, he missed having a squire, he needed to grab another one soon.

'I can do that in Corus.' He thought saddling up. Leading his horse out from the portable pen, he mounted and rode over to Merric.

"What are we waiting for?" he asked the redheaded knight.

"You." He responded. With a grin the two, along with another seven knights, started back on the five-day ride back to Corus.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"According to the map, this is the River Drell." Thetar said looking at the map. It was noon and the quartet had just passed the Tortallan border. They had been questioned by a bored looking knight on their business and then ushered in after hearing of the destination and purpose.

"Then, the party of knights the border-man mentioned, should only be a couple hours ahead of us if they had a wagon." Korosh stated. He held the lead to their packhorse, which carried his cello and cooking supplies. "Do you think we should join them, if we catch up?" He asked Draguen, the eldest and most experienced of the group.

"I do not see why not." he replied simply.

"Then it is settled," Cairn said, "we'll catch up to these knights, learn Tortallan gossip and arrive in Corus with an entourage."

"Yeah, something like that." Draguen shrugged, grinning at Cairn's enthusiasm. "Now, let's have lunch and then we'll go chase after the knights, agreed?" he asked, once again thinking with his stomach. The other three musicians nodded and they began to set out things for their mid-day meal.

ΔΩΔ

  
  



	8. Spielraum

Chapter 8

It was dusk.

Raven packed for her trip to Corus. All the arrangements were made for her and Jeremy's time in the capital. Rosanna was to stay home and monitor the village boys they had hired for harvest.

She sighed; this really was a stupid idea. She was putting them at risk by travelling. After all, how many black-haired girls ran around with a violin strapped to her back? Not many, last time Raven checked. And if she was discovered...what would become of Jeremy and Rosie...by putting up with her they had unknowingly assisted a fugitive. 

Should she tell them about the real her, the one who had seen gang fights, murder and wooed the members of the Underground Court with her voice and then the members of the Royal Maren household with her violin. If she didn't tell them and she was discovered, Jeremy could claim complete and untarnished ignorance, same for Rosie, but if she informed them...then they would be completely knowledgeable of what they did. 

'Fine, we won't tell them about our past,' Raven thought to herself, 'should we use our alias whilst there.' She pondered this for a moment, 'Maybe I can use a name like _Katherine 'Raven' Trallem._ To honour Demetrus...'

She looked out the window; the sky was rosy at the horizon from the fading sun. She hoped this would work.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So where are you from?" Merric asked the blond before him. The boy looked to be about seventeen, had long, elegant fingers and currently was picking at his food with an apprehensive look. When Merric spoke he lifted his head and looked on with polite interest.

"Maren, sir." He said quietly, "you?"

"The fief of Hollyrose, in Tortall...obviously." He replied. Silently he was frustrated, getting this boy to talk was hard. He looked at the other members the boy's party. 

The chestnut-haired, burly violinist Thetar was currently engaged playing a game of dice with two of the knights, laughing easily. The odd, lithe, blue-haired man named...was it Dragon? No, Draguen...well, he was speaking rather animatedly with two knights of whom he recalled to have the Gift. The other young one, Cairn, was...brimstone! He and Esmond were at what looked like a drinking contest; hadn't Dom 'cured' Esmond of that three years ago? Apparently not, anyway it looked as though the brown-haired knight was winning so he'd leave them be. 

Merric turned his attention back to the quiet, young man before him. After an hour of conversation all he knew about his was that he was a cello-playing Marenite named Korosh on his way to the Tortallan Royal Palace for a music competition. One hour equating to five facts, it was irritating!

"So, Korosh," the blond lifted his head again showing a handsome face, "do you have anyone _special?_" Merric grinned in what he hoped was an amicable manner. The blond boy stared at this question, flushing from a moment and then showing a great deal of sadness. He turned his face away.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude." The redhead said.

"Oh, it's okay...sometimes it still hurts." Korosh looked at the redhead, "I have-_had_- someone but I'll likely never see her again." He looked anguished as he stated this. "She was-well, I guess I'm trying to say is that she had to move for her own safety and I couldn't go with her, no one could...heck, I tried to rationalize her decision to leave but I don't see why she could not have hidden and waited for the danger to pass. I likely will never know...." The boy scanned the camp, eyes emotionless until he saw Cairn and Esmond 'duking' it out with ale.

"Bloody ass, what does he think he's doing?" the blond asked crossly jumping to his feet. 

"Trying to do the impossible and drink Esmond under. Don't worry; we can toss him in the wagon if he's too hung-over to ride tomorrow. Sit and enjoy your meal." Despite Merric's _encouraging_ words, Korosh strode over to the rosy-nosed Cairn who was beginning to show the effects of inebriation. 

"'Ello, Korosh, care to join us?" the under-the-table Cairn asked. Esmond, apparently unaffected by the draught, smiled at Cairn's slurred words. Korosh looked at the drunk, young man, annoyance his mask.

"No, I'd care for you to stop this nonsense and leave the ale alone." The younger of the two 'Roses' demanded taking the stein out of the elder's hands. Looking at the empty stein distastefully he gave it back to Esmond and dragged the inebriated to his feet. After setting Cairn up for bed, Korosh returned to Merric, a look of barely contained mirth writ on his face. The two looked at each other in silence and then began to laugh.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rosanna checked her saddlebags, occasionally stuffing in an extra item or two, once satisfied; she turned to Raven with smile.

"All set?" the older woman asked. It was at least an hour before dawn, the sky still as night. Raven nodded in reply, hoisting the bags onto her shoulders. The two women then went out and hitched the bags to Stone's saddle. A light clippity-clop, led them to the shed's entrance where they saw Jeremy leading a creamy dun quarter horse.

'Note to self, the Cornfields are definitely not ordinary farmers.' Raven's mind remarked cynically. In the past days, Raven had learned all about Jeremy and Rosie's families and had discovered that both came from rather well to do families. Add to that some of the best corn in the country and one would be shocked to have a mule instead of a horse.

After preparing Camomile (the dun), the trio of humans went in, had breakfast, cleaned up and said their farewells (a rather long and somewhat emotional affair). With that Jeremy and Raven set out on the first leg if their journey. 

As they left the village square, Raven knew this was it; she was going to Corus.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"How's the lad?" Thetar asked the violist as he emerged from the tent.

Draguen ran a hand through his hair causing it to stick up in disarray; he quickly smoothed it.

"He'll be in the wagon today I'm afraid." The blue-haired man responded. Catching sight of one of the knights he'd conversed with the night before, he turned to Thetar, "Give me a moment." Striding over to the knight, they talked for a few seconds and the knight gave a hearty laugh. The pair came back over to Cairn's tent and entered. Thetar shrugged and followed.

Cairn sat bent over, head in hands.

"Ow," he muttered, "Why did you not stop me?" he looked accusingly up at the two 'Roses' and the knight with them.

"If you recall, Korosh, sent you to bed." Draguen said kindly, "now Prosper here," he indicated the tall, pale knight, "is going to help you get into the wagon."

"Wagon?" the boy echoed. Thetar gave him a look.

"You're hung-over, far too much to ride today." The burly musician stated. " Come on." They got Cairn into the wagon with little difficulty and proceeded to travel again. They were four days from Corus and not inclined to waste anytime.

ΔΩΔ

  
  



	9. Schildanruf

Chapter 9

Gaile paced. Something felt wrong, and he didn't know what it was. It irked him to be uninformed. 'The Roses' would reach Corus in four days if they rode at an appropriate pace and once there they would send word —correction Cairn would send word, the other three members couldn't care less for his existence. 

Walking over to his desk he rummaged through a pile of papers, who knew being king entailed so much paperwork. Where was it...ah, here it was: the original notice and report concerning that brat who held his kingship. Scanning the page an idea came to him. She was far too noble to say nothing about him once her suspicions were confirmed, so why didn't he just kill her.

"Well for one, thing we don't know where she is," he slumped over his desk disappointed. "Wait..._I_ don't know where she is, but she can't be that hard to scry for." 

That ability was a bit rarer in Maren than in Tortall as the majority of the Gifted populous was skilled in plant-craft to assist with farming. There was one mage nearby, however, whose power could span the continent and look past magical barriers. Why didn't he think of it before? Gaile laughed a bit at his stupidity and had the mage summoned.

Turning to look at the page again, his eyes landed on the word that gave him the idea: _Magic_. She had magic and therefore would give off an aura that his mage could lock onto. _His _mage, he liked the idea of owning a mage.

"You asked for me, majesty," a velvet voice cut into his thoughts. He looked up; it was his mage, Anelee Draper, a very talented woman who had studied in Carthak. 

"That I did," he said looking at the woman. She had the black hair and eyes that she shared with her brother along with the height. Originally from Tyra, she moved to Maren after a request by the previous king, Barnesh. "Come, sit, I have a favour to ask."

She raised her eyebrow at him sardonically and then sat in one of the chairs before his desk.

"What is it then?" she asked after a moment of silence.

"You know of what happened here last year?" she nodded, "And you know of the fact that the female assassin got away?" she nodded again, Gaile himself had 'found' the girl's accomplices recently and had had them executed, the girl however had vanished a month back. What she didn't know was that Gaile had actually turned on his own henchmen to cover his trail.

Anelee looked at the relatively young king, agitation was written on his face. "You fear that she will eventually come back to kill you or harm one of your royal cousins. Am I correct, milord?" he gave her a look that said _what do you think?_ "You wish for me to seek out this girl before she can cause any harm."

"That is my request." He confirmed.

"Then consider it done." She stood and curtseyed. "I'll inform you of her location as soon as I find her." With a nod she exited, her red robe flapping behind her.

Contented with the promise, Gaile tidied up his desk and returned to reviewing papers concerning wheat exports.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Three days," Jeremy said with a smile, "three days until you play for the King and his court. Are you nervous?" he asked turning to look at his young companion.

"I'd rather not think about it," Raven replied. She was more than nervous; she was scared out of her wits. What in the bloody blue blazes of the Black god was she doing this for? There was a plus side though; she could gather some information while she travelled. She looked around at the merchant caravan they'd been tagging along with for the past few hours. She pulled her hood up a little. "I feel kind of sick actually." She admitted with a sheepish grin.

"No you don't," the old man said confidently, "you're just nervous. Don't worry lass, there's nothing to be scared of. Jonathan's a fine king, even if you don't play with the same calibre as his court musicians he'll still applaud you." He looked around them as the head of the caravan began to slow. "Time for lunch, you can practice violin for a bit after you eat. No use in getting out of practice." He added as if he knew the qualms of playing a musical instrument.

"I guess you are right." She acknowledged leading Stone out of the line to the side where some people were already tethering their horses. Giving him an apple for good behaviour, she met up with Jeremy as he tied Camomile to the post provided. Now on her feet she felt a little bit better.

"After you practice we'll be leaving the caravan," he stated simply, before she could ask 'why' he spoke again. "They're too slow, at this pace we won't make it to Corus before you're supposed to register. You're okay with this, right?" She nodded. "Good. Now lunch." With that the pair of them went to the tent-kitchen the merchants had set up. 

'Another plus of travelling in groups,' she thought, 'you don't have to do the cooking.' While she ate she reviewed the tidbits of information she'd picked up, the majority of it was useless. Though her eavesdropping wasn't completely in vain. She had learned that a group of knights would be catching up to the caravan tonight, they were returning from border duty in the Drell River Valley. Raven smirked in spite of herself; they were likely the group who was supposed to watch out for her, poor fools. Shaking her head, she returned to her facts and food. 

Apparently it was believed that she stayed in Tusaine, while others speculated that the 'girl assassin', as they referred to her as (which she liked and disliked at the same time, it sounded cool, but was completely inaccurate), was already dead.

'Let them think I'm dead, last thing I need is for a swarm of headhunters to trail me and get Jeremy and Rosie mixed up in this'.

She pondered many of the other things she'd heard, all false to her knowledge, but her mind kept returning to the knights she heard of. Why would they be coming back? For Prince Liam's birthday? No, the king likely had some ulterior motive. And why were they having a music competition as a birthday celebration. Maybe because it was convenient...the prince has his party and the 'girl assassin' is drawn in by the prize money and caught. It made perfect sense, she laughed at her folly; the competition was for her.

"Katherine would you mind telling my what is so amusing." Jeremy asked. She flapped a hand at him, saying 'nothing'. She had fallen into their trap, the clever bastards. Picking up her now empty bowl she gave it to the woman who was already scrubbing dishes. With a nod of thanks, Raven then turned to walk over to get her violin, _Julian_, after letting Jeremy know that she would be practicing. 

With Julian on her back she tramped through the woods to a small clearing; she didn't really want anyone to see what she had planned. For some reason she didn't believe the horses or people would be very comfortable around red light that rolled over everything like fog. 

'Heck, I'm not even comfortable with it and I'm the source.' 

Laying Julian's case on a rock shelf by the clearings edge, she stretched. Her entire body was stiff and sore from riding, her shoulders making a faint popping sound when she rolled them. Once done stretching, she unbuckled the case and opened it to the afternoon light. The shafts of sun bounced of the gleaming red-stained wood of her violin. She would play a song for prosperity and protection. What had Demetrus called it...a shield call, or as he said a _Schildanruf_, in Old Marenite.

"Schildanruf," she said testing the word, "To protect me in these dangerous times." 

Picking up Julian, she tucked the violin under her chin recalling the tune, it was one of the first she had learned with her magic. It was a simple, but fun melody that loped between measures like a Copper Isles waltz. Humming a bit she applied her thoughts and wishes for protection to the tune. She felt the familiar fire burn in her as she picked up the tune with her hands. 1,2,3. 1,2,3. 1, break,2,3 and repeat.

The light, airy waltz spread the sound following the light that poured out. Normally she would have suppressed the actual light being so close to people, but she couldn't bar her magic if the _Schildanruf_ was to work. The bubble of light encased her, cutting off the sounds of the forest. Feeling a calm wash over her, she felt like she was a young child in her mother's arms. Completely secure, thanks to a simple waltz and application of needs. 

Okay, maybe not a _simple_ application of needs, it required a bit of magic to.

She held one note and let the bubble recede until the light had faded. Out of bow, the note ended and she felt revitalized. She looked up, the sun had shifted a bit in the sky; she'd been out for an hour. Putting her violin away, she decided to test her spell.

'Hmmm...how does one test a protection spell?' She looked about herself and saw only trees. Trees...she could jump out of a tree. Feeling rather brilliant, she found a tree that suited her purposes. 

Underneath it was a thick bed of moss so if the spell was ineffective she wouldn't seriously harm herself. Climbing the tree by way of a low hanging branch, she stopped at branch of medium thickness approximately twenty-five feet above the cushion of moss. Licking her lips, she shuffled out onto the back and sat. Taking a deep breath, she leaned back and released the branch. She fell, eyes squeezed shut; she remained that way for a while. Why didn't she hit the ground?

Opening an eye, she saw a fox looking at her curiously. It was upside-down, or rather she was upside-down, when she noticed the canopy below her and the soil above her. It had worked. Laughing a little, the fox ran away, not wanting to be around the strange human. Struggling in the air a bit, she managed to right herself. Once upright, the spell allowed her to touch the ground again.

"That was so cool," she said aloud, she had half the mind to try it again when she heard Jeremy calling her.

"Coming," she called back. Picking up the violin case she hurried back to their horses. Strapping Julian to her back she mounted, while Jeremy gave her an odd look.

"I didn't know playing a violin was such a messy activity," he commented dryly plucking a leaf out of her short hair. In reply she merely grinned, combed her hair flat with her fingers. After saying their goodbyes to the merchants they rode on.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Anelee poured her ebony Gift into the bowl of water searching for the girl. She needed to find her...her escape route. She rode over the Eastern and Southern lands just waiting for the girl to sow herself. Music magic...she should show herself soon if she wanted to remain in practice. She waited ignoring all the Gifts she saw flowering over the countries in some magical working or another. Healing, fire, plant, thread, carpentry, truth spells, soothsaying, all flowed by at different intensities.

Then she saw it in Tortall, a little past the fief of South Olorun. A bubble of crimson light rippling like a wave of sound. The bubble then receded, so Anelee took a closer look. She saw a girl. She put away a violin and looked about herself in thought. The girl was fair-skinned, amber-eyed and had short black hair. _That's her_. The girl climbed a tree and let herself fall out of it to dangle in the air for a few minutes, body about an inch from the ground.

"So she's perfected a shield," Anelee said simply. Watching the girl for a few minutes more, she saw her pack up her things and then begin the ride west with an old man. Picking up the picture that Gaile had had delivered she compared the girl and the print. "Definitely her." 

Standing, she jotted down Raven's location and trajectory and ran off to find Gaile. Man was he going to be so pleased, she thought, maybe he'd let her join the expedition as a 'reward'.

ΔΩΔ

  
  



	10. Die Jagd

Chapter 10

"This is actually rather comfortable," commented Cairn as he lay in the wagon, "that is if you don't mind the bumps, hard surface and various corners jabbing into your side, threatening to impale you." He sat up with a groan. "Can't I ride yet?" He knew the answer, even now the sound of his own voice and the sun's light threatened to explode his head. He couldn't see straight; everything was blurry and distorted. Shaking his head, causing his brain to rattle and ache, his vision cleared up a little.

"Of course not," the blue-headed blur said in Draguen's accented voice. "You likely have no sense of balance at the moment and cannot see properly either." Cairn nearly fell over as the wagon bumped. "Now, why don't you try to go to sleep—."

"I've tried," he moaned."

"Here," a redheaded blur, Merric, said handing the hung-over boy a flask. It was warm. "It's coffee. Black and bitter, it'll help you function better." Cairn took a sip of the offered liquid...and nearly choked.

"Gods, that's nasty," he rasped. His vision was no longer so cloudy. The men around him now had dark spots for eyes, before it was their hair and skin colour for their heads. He snatched the flask back and drank, shuddering at the taste. At least he could see again. 

The knights laughed at his reaction to the brew while the other 'Roses' hid smirks (actually Draguen hid a wry grin, but does it matter).

"Hey Warric," one knight called to one behind him, "it appears the lad doesn't like your handiwork."

"He wouldn't, considering from how far east he is," another—Warric—replied. The two shared a few features, "He's likely used to Tyran style coffee with all that foam or the chocolate drinks of northern Maren."

"Ah, so you did pay attention when I gave you that culinary lesson." The first knight said slightly surprised. The two continued like this for sometime, when the knight who Cairn had been drinking with the night before fell back to next to the wagon. The knight, Esmond, showed no effects from the amount of alcohol he had consumed.

"Don't mind them, they're cousins." He said as though the relation explained everything. Seeing Cairn's small amount of confusion, he explained, "Iden and Warric, of Vikison Lake and Mandash respectively. Put them together with their cousin Owen of Jesslaw, and there'll soon be trouble underfoot." The freckled knight grinned, "They pulled some rather good pranks as squires when they were all at the palace."

Cairn gave him a look, "I suppose that makes sense, but what were they talking about food for?" Esmond gave him a look and silently cursed himself, this boy wasn't from Tortall, how would he know.

"Iden's knight master was an Irenroha; they are perhaps the most culinary refined family in Tortall. Brimming with cook-mages too. Iden," Esmond indicated the knight who had spoken first, "learned some tricks of the trade and enjoys imparting his knowledge on any who ask." He shrugged, "So you play violin?" Cairn nodded, "For how long?"

"At least nine years," he replied. Esmond continued to ask and answer questions until the bitter coffee had taken complete effect and Cairn was able to see and balance. At this time it was time for lunch anyway. So they readjusted the packs and the blond-haired violinist got to ride again. 

They rode until very late in the night without further incident eventually catching up to a merchant caravan. Settling with the caravan for the night they would detach themselves from the group the following morning.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"...they will be in Corus in a little less than two days if they keep pace." She finished reporting. Flicking her black braid over her shoulder she spoke again, "It would be better to catch the girl before she gets to the capital."

"I know that," the former duke of Avery said. Turning to an attendant he instructed, "Have my personal troops assembled. The Panthers preferably," he indicated one of the squads. A trained group of assassins and mage-literate men and women, while young the Panthers were perhaps the most deadly ensemble of fighters in the Eastern lands with exception to a group of Yamani samurais. The attendant rushed off in the direction of the barracks.

 "Anelee, will you be able to transport eleven people, including yourself, by portal?" she nodded, "Excellent. You will take the Panthers to meet the brat. Once there, dispel that shield that you told me about. Kresh, their resident mage, will assist you." He smiled genuinely pleased, "It would be better for my image if you were able to bring her back, but if she turns out violent she may be killed. The man she's with is of no worth to us and is only an unwanted witness, dispose of him."

"Yes sir." She curtsied deeply, the navy dress and crimson robe fanning out around her. Standing, she gave a nod of her head and swept out of the room. The scent of geraniums still lingered.

"You will not fail me Anelee," Gaile said to the scent. He turned to the window to look at the sinking sun. "You would make a good queen once this mess is dealt with." A wicked smile played across his lips as he thought of the possible future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Raven tossed. She couldn't sleep, something felt wrong. Sitting up in bed, she looked around the room that Jeremy had rented for her. It was small, clean and smelled of pine; there should be nothing to keep her up. Listening for a while, she realized the problem. It was too quiet. Slipping out from under the covers she padded over to the window and opened slightly. In poured the familiar sound of animals scurrying about and crickets chirping. The cool breeze ruffled her nightgown leaving her with a slight chill. Wrapping a blanket around her shoulders, she sat by the window watching the night. 

The wispy clouds, the stars and the crescent moon, all attributing to what Raven could only describe as a 'sparkly' feeling. That was when she saw them.

Shadows, slinking about in the forest, cloaked in darkness. They came from what Raven could only explain as a portal. The glittering ebony fire created a rift between two places in this Realm, granting immediate passage. She knew the how and likely the who, what, where and when of the portal if her suspicions were correct. She just wanted to know the why.

She quickly dressed, snatching a twin set of daggers in case there was trouble. While whoever they were couldn't hurt her, they could hurt others.

"They say 'curiosity killed the cat'," she commented dryly, "It's a good thing I'm not a cat." Opening her window a bit wider she looked down; the second story not too far up. Securing a blanket, she lowered herself a bit, letting go to land with only a slight jolt to her heels. Turning, she drew the twin daggers. 

Okay, think as a thief. Remember what it was like to be an enforcer for the Underground court. Past all the memories of poverty, she remembered the fights, the quick scraps with daggers, knives and broken glass. The quick twisting and sharp blows that made all the difference. She was ready to fight.

Walking towards the forest, senses alert she noticed movement again.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Steady," Anelee ordered the warriors, "wait until she's a bit closer. Then Kresh," she indicated the small man beside her, "will blind her while I destroy her shield. Disarm her and tie her up, no more wounds than necessary. If she is unrealistically resistant, gut her. Once she is dealt with, take care of the man if he's watching."

They turned to look at the small girl approaching them, her eyes shifting back and forth watching for movement.

"Now," the Tyran woman commanded. Kresh hurled a ball of light at the girl's face, while Anelee tore the shield to bits with raw power. The Panthers swarmed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She felt her shield collapse and yelled the first thing that came to mind. _Brennen sie_, burn them. The ball of light blinded her, while the Word of Power caused a fire to flower around, and attack anything that approached, her. She knew that she shouldn't have used the word, some families elsewhere in the world were now without the fire they needed for warmth and to cook with. But it kept these people at bay. She felt the fire begin to return to its source, she would have to fight with her feet, daggers and mind soon. Preparing her stance, she crouched and leapt up through the wall of fire to lash out at the first humanoid form she came in contact with. 

The mildly scorched and bewildered fighter didn't know what hit him, but his companions did. After a quick slash across the young fighter's throat, that killed him, Raven pushed off him to crash into woman, with her daggers tearing bloody chasms across the woman's torso as she twisted to push herself into another Panther. She made three more kills in this ricocheting manner before a large hand clamped over her wrist, halting her flight.

Flicking one dagger back, she tried to knife the man's forearm, while she slashed at his face with the other. Her caught hand met tough leather, while her arcing dagger was caught in another large hand. He twisted her arms behind her back, causing her to drop her daggers, thankfully one landed pointed down in the ground. Blocking out the pain in her arms she pinched the dagger's hilt with her feet, kicking backward into the man's upper thigh. The dagger severed the tough muscles there causing the man to drop her from the sudden pain. Falling to her knees she grabbed one dagger and threw it at another aggressor, catching the women through the eye. Using the other dagger, she impaled the man who grabbed her, causing both to fall dead.

Reclaiming the dagger from the dead man's chest she jumped up to face the remaining two fighters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She's good," Anelee remarked watching the girl bounce between the Panthers, death in her wake. A woman fell due to a dagger in the eye. "What should we do?" she asked with a shrug to the pale Kresh. "That fire wall she used was rather impressive."

"That was child's play," the short man remarked haughtily, despite the fact that he was obviously afraid. "As to our course of action, we should kill her."

"Why?" the tall, Tyran woman asked. The man looked at her as if she was crazy.

"She is most definitely resisting, your ladyship." He pointed out angrily.

"But not unrealistically."

"That is irrelevant!" he snapped. Muttering an incantation, he summoned a Beholder. The large, many-eyed beast hovered waiting for instructions. "Kill her!" the mage demanded waving a finger at the battle-engaged Raven.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Cut, block, kick, and slash. It was a pattern, almost a dance. One Raven knew to well. She was currently wildly defending herself between the remaining two Panthers, the black-clad figures passing her off between them.

'They're toying with me,' she thought angrily blocking an incoming dagger, 'If they can kill me why don't they just kill me.' That was when she heard the cry of 'kill her!' The shout was soon followed by an eerie hiss that caused the two assassins to break off their assault. That left Raven face-to-face with the most hideous creature she had ever seen.

ΔΩΔ

  



	11. Beholder

Chapter 11

The beast stank. From it's gaping mouth floating a collection of odours that threatened to make Raven's last meal escape her. Common sense told her not to look into the large eye that dominated the majority of the monster's body. Common sense told her to run and never look back; to wake the guests at the inn; to get help. 

Since when did Raven have common sense.

Despite her disgust and fear, she stood her ground. She had come so far and wasn't going to back down.

"Kill her!" that voice shouted again. The Beholder moved forward, the five eyes on their tentacles dancing back and forth, watching her hungrily. It was revolting.

Raven stepped back a little, taking a battle stance. Could she sing a spell? She could try, it wouldn't be strong but maybe it could buy her some time. The creature loomed above her. She was about to dive to the side, but couldn't. 

Scanning her memory, she realized that she knew this creature. It lived in the sewers and had the ability to paralyse its prey. It had paralysed her, the damn beast!

Controlling her fear as the creature circled her; it was not going to kill her...yet. Why? In reality she should be dead. Before she had met Demetrus, she had seen these creatures paralyse and devour a person in less than ten seconds. What was holding the creature back?

Risking a glance at where the shout had come from, she spotted two figures. One tall, slender and feminine, the other short, masculine and, if his waving arms were his emotions, very angry. From the feminine figure an ebony cord stretched between her and the Beholder. Eyes flicking to the Beholder, Raven say that the cord had bound its mouth shut. A look at her own body showed that the ebony cord was being wrapped around her.

A little apart from the two figures were the two remaining Panthers, swathed in black with perfect postures. Like nobles.

'Nobles!' Raven realized in shock. She had fought nobles. 'They must belong to a king then.' Eyes flicking back to whom she guessed were a pair of mages, she saw the woman step out from the forest cover. While the moon cast a blue light over the entire world, Raven knew that this woman was Tyran. Apart from her coal coloured eyes and hair, she had the natural tan. She waved a hand; an ebony bolt of lightening killed the Beholder.

Well that fixed some of her problems. 

The short man came running after the woman, furious.

"Miss Draper, what do you think you're doing?" he yelled. She gave him a pointed look and his mouth snapped shut.

"If you would speak a little quieter, Kresh, we do not want to attract anyone's attention." Her voice was soft and smooth, like velvet. She turned to Raven, a kind look on her face. "Forgive my partner, he wishes to kill you for what you did to his comrades." Raven looked at the man, his eyes showed that the woman was correct. The woman grabbed Raven's wrist prying the dagger out her paralysed fingers. "You don't need this any more." Raven glared at her. She tried to speak; her mouth wouldn't open. Okay so only her eyes worked. 

"You can't move, can you?" The woman said; she still held the ebony cord that semi-bound Raven. "Here." The woman pulled the cord back into her. Raven fell over.

"Ouch," she rubbed the small of her back, "Who are you people?"

"Curious little brat, isn't she?" The man remarked acidly.

"Hush," the woman rebuked him. She knelt before Raven who was still on the ground. A risky move. "First of all, don't even think of attacking me. I could turn you to ash with a thought. Secondly, we are servants of King Gaile of Maren, he requests your presence."

Raven digested this, the woman before her could kill her in an instant. Scary! They also wanted her dead. She mustered a polite smile.

"Will you please tell, His Majesty that I am currently on my way to Corus under the request of His majesty of Tortall. Once I am finished my business there, I will hurry back to Maren with utmost speed. Please send him my regards." Raven replied, struggling to keep her voice steady.

"I'm afraid that is not an option, miss." The man said tightly. He suddenly turned black and crumbled. Raven looked back at the woman. She was muttering.

"Stupid man, when I tell you to shut up, you stay silent." The woman lifted Raven to her feet. "Now, you are Raven, I assume."

"You assume correctly, milady." Why bother lying to this woman, she had truth-spells emanating from her.

"Good, as you likely heard that idiot Kresh say earlier, my surname is Draper." The woman stretched. She wore a navy dress that could be considered a woman's falconine attire. Definitely not belonging to any normal commoner. "My name is Anelee Draper, I am a mage. You are a musician. We are similar in that we were both hired by the late king Barnesh." 

Slinging an arm around the awed Raven's shoulders she led the girl back towards the inn. She loosed a small black ball that whisked the remaining two Panthers away. " I will accompany you to Corus and then I will portal us back to Maren." She stated matter-of-factly.

Raven couldn't believe it. Anelee _Draper_. The single most powerful mage in Maren was walking and talking with her. She would travel with her. Then it hit her, she would also drag her back to Maren. Stepping out from under the woman's arm, Raven turned to face; she had to crane her neck to do so.

"Miss Draper, while I appreciate your concern and offer, I doubt that His Majesty would want you absent so long. I suggest that perhaps it would be best for us to part ways." She looked at the woman expectantly, she was very still and giving Raven a look of ice.

"You know," she started, "you were my excuse out of the pit of confinement and leers back in Maren." This caught Raven off guard. "That back there, was all an act. I didn't want that bastard wizard to touch you and I needed to see how you would react to me. You don't _know_ what it is like to be pet mage to king who does not deserve the title. I do not care if he caught Barnesh's assassin, he is completely inappropriate for kingship." She looked at the girl, examining the her.

"You did not kill Barnesh." It was more of a statement than a question.

"That is correct."

"Then I will attest to your innocence in the court of Jonathan." Anelee confirmed. They had begun walking again, but Raven stopped.

"Okay, rules of travel. My name is Katherine, we do not speak of the accusations concerning the violinist Raven." She looked up at the woman with a grin. "Jeremy doesn't know."

"Ah, then let us make sure that he never finds out." The woman said mock-sagely.

The two went back to Raven's open window, Anelee levitating them inside. Raven pulled out her bedroll and slept in that allowing her new mage friend the bed. While Raven slept, Anelee filled the stone washbasin with water. She conjured up the image of her horse, back in his stable. Completely saddled with saddlebags packed tight with everything that she needed to make a new life. She could portal the rest of her items later.

Sending a magical caress to the animal, it lulled asleep. She picked up the stone basin, the image rippling. Carefully she exited the room and went down to the stables, careful not to wake the stable master who was likely in the loft.

Setting the basin down, she let the water settle and the image of her horse settle. The horse, Speckle, was a beautiful mare. Black with a white dappled back and white mane, socks and tail, she was a rare find. Setting up the necessaries for a portal (a ball of magic here and there along with a stabilizing item), Anelee transported the sleeping horse from her stable in Maren to the one in which she stood.

The sleeping horses in the stable awoke and glared at the human mage. They would not whinny, because they had the horse sense to know that the black-haired woman could kill them on a whim. They could feel the power in her because they were of the People. Once the black dappled mare was settled in her new stall and the portal had been collapsed, Anelee went around to the horses, conjuring little treats for them as a 'thank you'.

Anelee poured the water in the basin outside and then hurried back up to her and Raven's room with her pack and the basin. Carefully setting things back to rights, she changed and slipped into bed, instinctively warding the room.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"She what?" Gaile was livid.

"She...she defected, Your Highness." Stammered one of the warriors before him. They had given him the account of their approach on the girl, how she had slaughtered seven of them, before Kresh called them off. The male mage then attacked the girl with a Beholder, then Anelee, wondrous, beautiful Anelee had killed both Kresh and the Beholder, to walk off with the brat. He had lost his mage, his queen, to a musician!

"Hunt them down," he said quietly.

"But my lord, that is near impossible." The other remaining Panther blurted out.

"Then do so anyway," he said standing by the window, looking over his shoulder at them. "One more failure and it's your heads. Now get out of my sight!"

The two Panthers bowed and hurried out of the throne room.

"Incompetent fools." The king muttered as he turned back to the window, where the sun was just beginning to rise.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Miss Draper," someone was shaking her. Anelee turned over to look at the girl with a groan, "Time to get up." The girl said, shaking the red-robe mage again.

"The sun's not even up." Complained the mage.

"Yes it is, our window simply faces east not west." Raven said kindly, poking the mage. "Now get up, we need to leave soon."

The mage sat up and stretched with a yawn. "You know, I could simply portal us to Corus."

"Uh huh, that's nice. I'm sure you could after doing two such portals last night."

"How—?"

"I've already packed. I saw your horse." The girl said. She looked at the shift-clad mage and shook her head with a laugh.

"What is so amusing?" Anelee asked, hopping off the bed to stand a head taller than Raven. The violinist merely shook her head and flapped a hand.

"Get dressed and I'll introduce you to Jeremy." The petite girl left the room after grabbing another bag.

"Bossy little child, I'm likely twice your age." Anelee began pulling on a riding dress. "Or not. Considering I'm 28 and you're...oh about 15 or 16. But that is besides the point." She stopped muttering as she tied the laces of the dress. After running a brush through her hair, Anelee packed her bags, magicking them to make all her belongings fit. Picking up her bags, she left the room for the stables.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm riding again," Cairn hugged the horse, a blue roan. "I'm so happy!" He smiled. He had _hated_ the wagon. It was such a relief to ride again.

"He's rather happy, isn't he?" Prosper said indicating the rejoicing violinist next to Esmond

"Cairn dislikes small, cramped, uncomfortable spaces." Draguen replied. "He also has taken Korosh's job of acting as though he's in centre-stage." Prosper looked over at the other blond. The cellist. He was riding next to Merric, listening to the redhead talk about random things. The boy's expression was dour; he could hardly imagine this boy pretending to be ruler of the stage. "He's had a rough year. The girl he liked moved away." She did move in a sense, Draguen told himself. "He hasn't seen her since and they didn't have a proper goodbye. It's best not to ask him about it." 

With that the blue-haired violist turned to safer topics of medicine and other normal uses for the Gift. Prosper let the cellist fade from his mind as he and the violist puzzled over a new theory from Carthak.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Iden and Warric could be annoying, Thetar decided. Currently the large man was in between the two cousins as they excitedly described all of Corus' wonders. At first their running commentary had been amusing and helpful, now it was pointless. He looked over at the other 'Roses' enviously. Draguen was conversing animatedly with one of the Gifted knights, Cairn was rejoicing for being allowed back on his horse while his 'drinking buddy' and the knight driving the wagon laughed and Korosh was speaking quietly to the redheaded knight who seemed to be in charge.

Life was unfair. 

Why was he stuck with the two hyper knights? Honestly they were likely his age of 23 and they sounded like chipmunks as one rattled off the specifics of a certain inn's food while the other agreed with enthusiasm. He could punch them. Hmmm...that wasn't such a bad idea. He caught Draguen's eye on him, telling him to behave. Spoil sport.

Iden finally stopped his commentary of cuisine much to Thetar's relief.

"Tell me about your pranks?" He interjected.

"Pranks?" Warric blinked.

"Yes, pranks. I heard the freckled knight—"

"Esmond."

"—tell Cairn that you two and your other cousin were hellions as squires." He finished.

"That we were," Iden agreed gravely.

"For that we are most remorseful." Warric added.

"No, we're not!" Iden mock-whispered to Warric. To Thetar he said, "Our best prank would likely have to be one thought up by yours truly." He half-bowed in the saddle. Warric shook his head, with a _here he goes_ expression. "It was our second year as squires and our cousin's third. Despite there being a war beginning—"

"Actually because of that, likely." Warric interrupted.

"Yes, likely for that reason." Iden continued. "We decided to take it upon ourselves to keep everyone in good spirits. It was a little before Mid-winter, so all of our knight-masters were at the palace for various reasons. Would you like to continue?" he asked handing the story off to Warric.

"The princess Lianne was born a little before Mid-winter. She's an easy-going woman with a bit of a sweet tooth. In honour of her 18th birthday, the king held a small feast for her and her friends from the convent. Well, the kitchens were right there...and Iden's knight master was an Irenroha." He gave his cousin a look.

"What difference does being an Irenroha make?" Thetar asked. Iden gave him a quick explanation before continuing with the story.

"So we were able to sneak into the kitchens. Oh yeah, we also kidnapped the middle Irenroha boy who was in the infirmary; he can turn things into gelatin. We found where they were assembling the food for the princess' birthday party and..." he grinned at Warric.

"You two turned all the food into gelatin snacks." Both knights grinned triumphantly.

"The princess loved it. She was laughing so hard, when the head cook dragged the four of us in. We got to sit in on the feast too." Warric announced. "She even gave Iden a kiss on the cheek for master-minding the event." The other knight blushed furiously, glaring at his cousin. 

"She's married to a Tyran prince now." Iden said stiffly, regaining his composure. 

Thetar found the knight's reaction interesting. So Iden had or has a crush on one of the princesses of Tortall, Thetar grinned, he could tease one of the knights about something now. Perhaps he could last between these two now.

ΔΩΔ

  



	12. magie

Chapter 12 

"Jeremy," Raven stood across from the elderly farmer. He was eating his breakfast. "There's someone I'd like you to meet." The man looked up from his food to face Anelee, who stood behind Raven.

"Katherine, who is this woman?" he asked.

"My friend," she replied. "Anelee Draper," she gestured to the mage, "Jeremy Cornfield. Jeremy, Anelee."  The two shook hands and Anelee sat at the table. Raven went to the counter to get some precious munchies for herself and her new friend.

"So," Jeremy began as soon as Raven left the table, "How did you meet my charge?"

"Uh, well you see, we shared a room last night." She was not going to mention the fight. The man look at her, he needed more of an explanation. Time to make up lies. "My room is actually next to Katherine's, we met in the hall and started to talk. Eventually, your charge invited me in, we had some tea and after some talk," Anelee forced the blush and spoke hurriedly, " I fell asleep before retreating to my room."

"Right. Where're you heading?" The man asked as Raven received two plates, "Any particular things that the girl said, that might interest me?" he smiled, he was joking.

"To answer the first question, I'm heading to Corus." Anelee said in her careful manner.

"We as well, for a competition." Jeremy replied with a nod.

"The second question, I am unauthorized to answer." She finished with a grin. That wasn't a true lie considering the fact that Raven had told her not to tell Jeremy about last night. "Now it is my turn to ask you something." The man shrugged sipping whatever was in his mug. "Cornfield, that means you're a farmer, correct?" the man nodded, "Then how in the Realm did you end up escorting a violinist? I don't mean to be rude, but I find that a bit odd."

"Katherine was a farm hand when the invitation arrived. Violin is her hobby." He did not offer any information of when she arrived or for how long she worked for him. Why let this stranger know that Katherine just showed up in his cornfield and he hired her, this woman would think him stupid. After all, he didn't know about the girl's past, he was just compelled to help Katherine.

"Originally she was to merely help with the harvest, but Rosie, my wife, insisted that she practice to keep in shape with her music. Someone in the village likely heard her practicing, word found way to the younger majesty's ear and he had her invited to play for him at his birthday as part of the music competition." He looked at her. Black hair and eyes, swarthy skin, Tyran traits. She had a mixed accent, the sign of a traveller. Draper...wasn't that the original name for that mage Samalín? That is if gossip circles were correct. Anelee saw his examination.

"I am going to Corus to meet my brother." Not a lie, she did intend to seek out her brother once in Corus. This farmer didn't need to know her original intentions, about her own place in Maren court and such. "Katherine," that name really didn't fit the girl, "invited me to join you." Raven smiled as she set the two plates down, she had heard Anelee's last words.

"So can she join our little party?" The girl asked sitting down. Some thing flickered in Raven's mind; she had said that before. 

She was cold and wet. An image of an alley flickered in her vision. She had said those words five years ago, they had gotten her kicked out of the Underground Court; junior enforcers did not make such suggestions. The memory disappeared as quickly as it had come. Anelee was thanking Jeremy for letting her tag along. 

They hadn't noticed her lapse. What was that? It felt so real. She quickly thanked the Great Gods her food and began eating, the warm food chasing the cold feeling. Demetrus had found her the morning after her 'brilliant' idea. Apparently he had been looking for her for a while, but couldn't reach her. She had been about 10 ½ then. Demetrus had been her hero. 

She turned her attention back to Anelee and Jeremy: they were making travel arrangements. Something the mage said caught her attention.

"Portal?" she nearly choked. "But..." she caught the woman's warning look.

"Katherine your friend is a mage." 

"I know that but—"

"A powerful mage," Jeremy lowered his voice, "she can cut off a day of travel, take us right to the gates of Corus today. We have to be there in two days to register anyway and don't you want to have sometime to relax before we go to the palace. Your friend can help." Raven was speechless, Jeremy was resolved on this; there was no way she was getting out of this one. She put on a smile.

"That would be rather convenient, if Miss Draper could handle three people and their mounts." Anelee noted the smile, finishing her morning meal.

"Well then shouldn't we be going, considering that I _can_ handle transporting that amount of people." The mage stood picking up the empty plates. Taking them over to the proper counter, she sighed. The girl didn't put two and two together, a blessing and a burden. It was in her name and origin. The Draper family of Tyra was full of mages, but the siblings of her generation were the most powerful giving them fame. She should know not to question her strength in magic-related actions. The blessing however was that she didn't become hero-worshipping like some of the other girls she had met. She returned to the table. 

"Katherine, if you don't want to use the portal, I'm fine with that. According to some news brought by a messenger that was here last night, there'll be a group of knights passing this area in the afternoon. They're heading to Corus, and are already escorting some civilians, you can travel with them likely."

Knights! Raven wasn't going to wait around for law enforcers to find her. They were likely the ones who were looking for her, the ones who had stopped with the merchants; they were after her!

"On second thought," she started, "the portal sounds fun." Jeremy raised an eyebrow at her change of mind. "I don't want to travel with knights, think of all the bawdy songs they must sing. Definitely not a place for a young, refined, female musician." She added with a smile. '_Especially one who is considered a fugitive._'

"Definitely not." Anelee agreed. "Don't worry your horse will be alright," she said to the girl, "I'll make him snooze for the portal." She added as the three set off for the stables to collect their mounts.

~~

They bid farewell to the merchants as the group of knights and musicians separated from the caravan.  They began to ride...hard...or a quickly as a militia wagon allowed them.

ΔΩΔ

  
  



	13. versteckt

Chapter 13 

He was miserable and bored...and confused. Despite travelling with a wagon they were making excellent time; he didn't understand how and thus he was confused. As his mind puzzled over this phenomenon, his misery slipped away. It was not that he did not miss or worry about Raven, it was simply that, well, there was nothing he could do for her but he could expand his learning at the moment.

"Korosh," a voice intruded his thoughts. The blond cellist looked up to see Merric riding next to him. "What's on your mind?"

"How are we so swift?" the blond asked. "It is virtually impossible for our horses to travel so far, so quickly. Our rate of travel is past the natural ability of horses, especially these ones...." The boy babbled, patting his mount. Merric could help but laugh.

"For all your scholarly talk, you really don't look at all the possibilities do you?" The blond teen looked at Merric accusingly, while the knight continued, "I'm not quite sure of the specifics but it's because of the feed that they can take this journey."

"The feed?" Even better quality food couldn't account for the speed at which they moved.

"Teron magicked it," Merric stated, indicating the wagon-driving knight. "Ah, here we are." He announced as they topped a rise to see an inn set into a forest.

The company of knights and musicians reined in beside the inn. It was close to midday and it was announced that they should stop for lunch. Iden and Warric herded the group into the inn, while the pair spread praises on the meals served at the particular public house. Soon Korosh forgot the horse issue and was focused on is meal and the antics of the energetic Cairn.

~~

Draguen pulled out of the group of knights as the entered the inn. Something had caught his attention, leaning over he grabbed the arm of the knight Prosper and asked, and "Do you see anything?"

The light-bringer examined the area where the blue-haired man indicated. "What am I looking for?" he asked quietly.

"Magic was done here," Draguen stated, his odd silver eyes examining a spot on the ground a few metres from the inn. The grass was slightly discoloured, a yellowish patch amongst very healthy emerald. The dead patch was a perfect circle with a two-metre diameter. Crouching, the violist put a hand onto the patch tentatively letting a little bit of ice blue light spread from his palm to cover the dry grass. Lifting his hand away, the blue magic faded to be replaced by traces of sparkling ebony fire. Seeing the black-coloured magic, Prosper came and crouched next to the violist.

The light-bringer recognized the swirling pattern left by the mage who had done this. "A portal..." he said quietly.

"Are you sure?" Draguen queried, the knight-mage nodded. The violist then stood and ran toward the forest, crouching again to examine another patch of grass. This one burned. "Prosper, you have to see this." He called.

The grass was scorched in a semi-circle spreading toward the tree. This was a pattern that he recognised, the wall of fire. _Brennen Sie_. Burn them.

"What is it?" the light voice of the knight asked walking over from the other spot he was looking at. That patch had been irregular, the grass shrivelled with traces of a sickly gold colour and more black fire. Their mage had summoned an immortal.

"Someone used a Word of Power," the blue-haired man responded as he let his Gift flowed over the scorched ground. As the pale blue faded, crimson fire showed. Unlike the black Gift, these traces rippled like a pond. Draguen also recognised this Gift. "She didn't..." he breathed out. Raven...she wouldn't do this; she knew the consequences of the Words of Power.

"Who? Who didn't?" Prosper's question fell on dead ears. Draguen was looking at a glowing red pendant. The knight grabbed the violist's shoulder and whirled the man around. "Who did this?" he asked again.

"My apprentice." It was Draguen who had instructed Raven in her Gift after the untimely death of her former teacher, Demetrus. He turned his silver eyes up to the light-bringer; they were fretful.

"Your apprentice?" Draguen didn't nearly look old enough to have an apprentice playing with Words of Power. "What about the black fire, do you recognize that?"

The violist nodded as he put the pendant away. The ebony magic belonged to His Majesty's pet mage, Draper. What had occurred here? Prosper was looking past Draguen, the violist followed the knight's gaze to a series of brown splatters just past the scorched ground. That wasn't...

"Blood." The knight stated. "Your apprentice seems to have been-" He was cut off by Esmond.

"What're you two doing out here? You missed lunch." The freckled knight asked striding over to the pair of crouching men. They rose to look at the approaching Nicoline-heir, Draguen waving a hand over the burned and bloodied grass. Prosper saw the burns and blood vanish from the ground.

"Just observing a few insects," Draguen answered, "It appears that there are some species here in Tortall that do not live in Maren. Prosper here was kind enough to tell me their names." 

Esmond looked at them quizzically, he didn't know Prosper was into entomology. "Insects?" the freckled knight repeated.

Prosper, picking up his cue from Draguen, replied, "Yeah, it seems to be the reason why Maren's wheat and barley harvests are so successful. The beetle that gives our farmers difficulty doesn't live in the East." He then added, trying to be scholarly, "It's actually rather fascinating."

"Right, just letting you know that we will be leaving soon." The brunet turned and walked back over to the inn where, sure enough, the knights were beginning to saddle up their horses.

"Bugs?" Prosper asked incredulously once Esmond was out of earshot. "Why did you hide the burns?"

"We have no time to dilly-dally over some trivial magic issues." Draguen told the younger man coolly.

"What?" the knight whispered angrily, "Something big happened here."

"My apprentice was attacked and she won. Then she and the other mage utilized a portal to reach their destination without further interruptions. End of story." He then walked toward the inn, calling to the other Gifted knight, Teron, in an obvious attempt to forget the situation despite how correct he was. Inside Prosper fumed because he knew that he wouldn't tell.

~~~~~*~~~~~

Before her stood Corus, grand and beautiful. The walled city rose like a perfect model, rising from houses to stores to temples to the Royal Palace.  She had made it. Recalling the dizzying portal ride that had brought her thus far she turned to Anelee.

"Thank you," she whispered to the mage.

"You're welcome," the Tyran woman replied. She then looked to Jeremy, "Shall we press on." The farmer nodded with a grin. "To the palace then." Anelee said.

The trio rode down the slope into the valley entering at the eastern gate. Hidden amongst the many others going in and out of the city, Raven went in unnoticed due to her lack of height. Anelee, beautiful and two inches above six feet, received a few catcalls.

"That is completely indecent," she muttered later as they began the ride through the lower city. 

Raven grinned at the mage's complaints and looked about her while Jeremy tried to console the woman. The smile dropped from her ace as she surveyed the lower city as it began to merge with the market place. She saw pickpockets and dealers at work, fading in and out of the traffic with practiced ease to meet up in alleyways to compare their loot. She saw the signs of an organized system of thieves.

The streets of Corus faded to Raven as she saw only the thieves, the dealers, the prostitutes and beggars. There were no more honest workers in Raven's eyes, only those like how she used to be. Part of an Underground Court.

_She was cold; she no longer saw the dishonest folk. She felt bruised, her hands were bloody and one of her eyes was swollen. It rained so she was wet; the excommunicated do not receive shelter. People had looked out there windows at the beaten child, clucking with sympathy until they saw her face. She was excommunicated, so they no longer cared. She no longer _belonged_. An enforcer nipped around the corner, she cried out to her comrade. He kicked her._

The memory was so real that Raven nearly fell off the grey gelding. She ached and Anelee caught her, easing her back into the saddle. A canteen was thrust into her hands so she drank. She was not in Berat, but in Corus.

"Are ye alright?" the old tanned man asked. His name was Jeremy. "You nearly fell off yer horse." Raven returned the canteen with a nod.

"Just memories," she said in a tone to indicate that it was not to be discussed any further. She looked about, they had led her to a wall. The crowd went about their business, ignoring Raven's lapse. All except for one man.

He was across the street and kept giving the girl odd looks, as though he didn't know what to make of her. Anelee saw the man and sent him a glare, a bit of ebony fire in her palm. The man jumped a little and returned to his business of selling fish. He did not look at them again.

"What did you..." Raven started. The mage gave her a look that said 'later'. Jeremy, watching them, shrugged, there were some things a man should not know.

They pushed off from the wall and continued up through the market towards the palace. Along the way, Anelee transferred a spell onto Raven that would cause strangers' gazes to fall elsewhere and forget that they saw her. They didn't need any more disturbances, she would tell the violinist later. 

"Only a stronger mage can see you now," the Tyran whispered to her as they came to the Temple District.

ΔΩΔ

  



	14. Willkommen

Chapter 14

He was tired, bored and generally fed-up with the party arrangements. Rubbing a hand through his brown-black hair, Liam of Conté wondered why the Gods allowed such people to live. Okay...he'd admit that was a bit cruel but when he asked for confirmation on Tuesday, he wanted it on Tuesday not Thursday. Slumped over his desk, he decided that the royal bakery needed a refresher course at the moment.

A knock resounded at the door and his assistant stepped through. The older man's lips were pursed with disapproval while his eyes seemed amused. The prince straightened and gave the man an inquisitive look; mismatched eyes annoyed.

"It appears we have another entry for the competition, Liam," the man said.

"And? I thought you were dealing with that, Edgard..." the prince replied. Now was not the time for special guests to arrive.

"It is the violinist from the farm..." Edgard's voice carrying more meaning than his words, "She is here with two escorts." Two? Surely not both of the girl's employers came with her.

"Show them in," Liam ordered, "Send for a maid as well." Why would she come with two?

"Of course," Edgard replied with a bow. Liam turned to look out the window down into the streets of Corus; once done with the violinist he would go for a ride.

"Your highness," Edgard voice broke into his thoughts, he swung his chair so that his profile was shown, his sapphire eye locked on his aide and his companions. "May I present the violinist, Katherine Trallem and her escorts Jeremy Cornfield and Anelee...Draper."

_Draper?_ Liam swung his chair around so that he could fix his hazel eye onto the group as well. He stood and gestured to the seats in front of his desk. 

"Please, sit," he requested as the trio finished their bows. They looked like they might refuse and he wanted to sit, time to bring out protocol. "Sit," he repeated with a smile, "you have no doubt travelled along way and it would be rude to keep you standing. Besides, it is protocol for royalty that if your guests stand, so do you and I really am tired."

Jeremy immediately dropped into one of the chairs followed closely by Anelee. Raven however was too busy examining the room and the prince to hear. 

They were in a small office with light green walls and wood panelling. The wall, behind the desk and opposite to Raven, was all window above the panels that extended for a metre from the floor. There was crown moulding where the walls met the ceiling. The ceiling itself was alabaster and printed with an intricate pattern of Ha'Minch thistle [1].

There was also a severe lack of security in her opinion. 

She looked at the man who had asked for her presence. The prince was handsome, with a slightly pronounced nose and hair that was a shade off of black. His left eye was the sapphire of the Conté line while his right eye showed the same hazel as expected from the jin Wilimas. He kept his chin shaved clean and while his clothing was simple, the quality of the umber linen more than made up for its plainness. He took after both of his parents in equal amounts and Raven was pleased to see that his eyes were free from the spark of a lecher that one could see in Barnesh's eyes.

She sat. So did Liam.

"Firstly, I'd like to welcome you to Corus and the Royal palace. I hope that your stay here will be pleasant." Try as he might Liam couldn't seem to focus on the violinist, so he looked past her. "Now, it isn't customary for the prince to greet all musicians and their companions," he indicated Jeremy and Anelee, "but as you have been invited, I wanted to greet you personally."

"Thank you, my prince," Jeremy replied, bowing his head. While on the outside he was calm, his mind was fidgeting madly trying to think of where Katherine's last name came from. Trallem...she had never used it before, but then again she hadn't really told him that much about herself. He pulled the invitation out and looked at it, "Here it says that Katherine needs to register."

"That it correct..." Liam moved a stack of papers to reveal a registrar, "This is only the backup but Edgard, my aide, can transfer your names onto the official guest list later." He confided, trying to make them comfortable, "So if I can have you sign your names and positions where indicated, that would be wonderful." The prince stated, all business.

"Positions?" Anelee echoed.

"Yes," the prince replied, "we like to keep track of who and what we have in the palace. So you write down your specialty. Katherine would be a violinist—if you don't my using you as an example—" Raven gave a light shrug as she wrote 'Katherine Trallem, violinist', "Jeremy, you would likely be an escort and your surname says a farmer. Do you understand?"

"Yes, thank you...my prince," she answered as she took the registrar from Raven to write: _Anelee Draper, escort/ red robe mage_. Jeremy then filled out his information as another knock resounded on the door.

"Come in," Liam called. The door opened to reveal Edgard and a woman in servant's garb. Liam recognized her. "Rose will show you to your quarters." It was a dismissal.

Raven stood and helped Jeremy up, they then bowed and moved after the maid; Anelee stood in front of her chair waiting to be acknowledged. The trio bound for the guest quarters halted and looked at her; she waved them on, so they went, if somewhat reluctantly.

Liam looked up, and up, and up into the face of the Tyran woman. "Yes?" he asked. She had written that she was a mage on the registrar.

"I heard that Arram Draper was at the palace," she said, "knowing his closeness to the royal family, I was hoping that you could tell me whether or not this is true."

Liam looked at the woman curiously. Arram Draper...that was uncle Numair's old name. The mage before him had the same colouring and greater height as Numair; she even had the same type of face with the slightly longer nose...Who was she?

"That is true, he is at the palace," he conceded while he studied her. "Though he now goes by Numair Samalìn." Nothing about her indicated malicious intent so that bit of information wouldn't be too damaging.

"He always wanted some mage-like name," Anelee remarked amused, "Thank you, my prince." She bowed deeply and then left, a smile on her face.

Liam never did go for the ride. He was stuck puzzling over the new guests. It frustrated him that the only thing he could remember about her was her name and that she was short.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

| [1] The Ha'Minch thistle is in fact a Scottish thistle.|

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ΔΩΔ


	15. Planen Sie den Terz

Chapter 15

Raven examined the suite she was given carefully. An easily defendable apartment... likely redesigned after the Immortals War. She had already examined the two bed rooms, of which one would be occupied by Anelee, and was now giving the sitting room the once over when the door opened.

Raven looked up to see Anelee.

The mage moved into the room and stumbled. Raven darted out to support her. Leading the Tyran woman to the couch, Raven saw that she was grey underneath her tan and had a particularly tired expression.

"Are you...?" the girl started.

"All right? I'm fine just a little worn out...." Anelee replied lying down on the couch, her head resting on an arm. "You should practice," the mage suggested sleepily. And then she was out.

Slightly surprised that the woman had made it from the Prince's office to their suite in such a condition surprised Raven. The amber-eyed girl looked at the scene before her.

_'She used too much of her Gift...'_ she decided, _'No person should be able to portal twice, disintegrate someone, destroy a monster and bind another with her Gift without a large amount of sleep. In fact, it's completely unfair that she can portal twice in a day...**I** can't even char someone without passing out a hour afterwards....'_

Raven glared at Anelee, jealous, before an unbidden thought crept into her mind.

'_How is everyone at home...Do they miss me? What of Korosh?'_ Raven's cheeks burned when she recalled his kiss. '_Has he found someone else? Does he even think about me anymore...what of Draguen? Did he still play viola or had he opened his boutique? Had Thetar decided to become a craftsmen as his body dictated? Did 'The Roses' even exist anymore?'_

Following Anelee's direction, Raven found _Julian _and set herself up to practice. As her finger went about tuning, the girl thought back onto 'The Roses'. They had had many first violin changes. First had been Draguen's sister who got married and settled down, then Demetrus who was killed in a 'traffic accident', then her, convicted of treason and murder, and then whomever they had found as a replacement, that blonde boy, if they continued to play.

She began her scales. D major, E minor, G major...repetitive, but necessary for tuning. Then came a series of arpeggios, seven note measures of melodic annoyance. Continuing and finishing with her warm-up, Raven faced her music and started to pick her way through that troublesome bit between bars 63 and 80. She slowed the piece down, emphasizes her shifts to ensure proper tuning for the tricky triple stops that played across her three lower strings. It was a method that Demetrus had taught her....

'Demetrus.' Raven's mind mourned as the girl thought back to when she got her first violin.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Raven..." the black-haired man called softly, "I have your surprise ready."

A young girl, about ten years of age, turned to look at the man from her spot on the floor. She had been trying to meditate obediently, but had failed due to her looming surprise. Rising gracefully, she patted at her clothing to shake off dust in the manner appropriate for the upper-middle class-men of Maren. Apparently the former street rat was adjusting to her new life. Shuffling over to the man she looked up at him with large, excited, amber eyes.

"Where is it?" she asked quietly, as though they were discussing a grand secret. "Can I see it now, Demetrus?"

The man, Demetrus, scooped the girl up and carried her over to a door in the room. It was usually a locked door; today it wasn't, as Demetrus open it and deposited the girl into the music room. Atop the piano bench sat an oblong figure wrapped with cranberry-coloured linen and twine. The girl walked over to it and then looked at Demetrus, unsure.

"Is this it?" she asked, seeking permission to open the package. Demetrus nodded, yes, it was hers; yes, she could open it. The girl smiled brightly and loosened the knots of twine, carefully slipping the cranberry packaging off of the figure. The removal of the cranberry coverings led to the discovery of a violin case with ebony in-lay and brass latches. Popping the case open carefully, the young Raven laid eyes on an amber-coloured violin nestled in cranberry-coloured velvet.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

She had gasped and then flung herself at Demetrus. In thanks for the instrument, in thanks for her life. The happy memory brought with it a cold feeling, however, a cold, wet feeling. Of stumbling in the rain...a memory...a review of a past event as Raven's song faded away from her ears. Instead of sheet music, she saw an alley. Instead of holding a violin, she held a small well-crafted knife. Instead of feeling secure, well fed and content, she was sorrowful, emaciated and edgy. Lighting flashed, candles were snuffed and thunder boomed repeatedly as the girl-child stumbled blindly, horribly beaten.

Boom, boom...knock, knock?

Raven's eyes shot open as the knock was repeated. Breathing a little heavy, from her re-encounter with her Rogue exile, Raven set _Julian_ back in his case. Rushing to the door, she flung it open to meet the maid, Rose, with an embarrassed expression. Gathering herself, Raven smiled sheepishly at the short, spectacle-donning woman. Rose's soft brown eyes held some light of amusement, while Raven apologized profusely for making her wait.

"It is not I who awaits you, Miss Katharine, but the Prince Liam in his study." The maid explained.

"Ah..." Raven replied, feeling rather foolish, "Um...lead on." She added uncertainly.

Rose smiled and led the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**_Away in Maren_**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

                "This will require utmost care and precision. Now remember..." here Gaile looked pointedly at the warriors of various talents before him. "We are using a relay system to get to Tortall quickly. You must keep in formation at all costs. Ivan and Nathan will transport you all to the southeast tip of Maren; from there you will be portalled to the Tusaine Mountains, then to Olorun Forest and then to Corus. The mage pairs have already been assigned. One last reminder before you leave: Don't hurt her. We'd like her to be in the mood for conversation when she arrives. You are dismissed."

                The group of twenty bowed to their King and filed out of the room when he went to sit at his desk.

                "Tell him the mage will be dealt with." The acting-monarch stated to the emptied room. "Yes, she will be brought back if found. Killed if she refuses. The bind-mages will be fine. There are four of them each getting two warriors and forming a party."

This babble was met with silence.

"Yes, yes, they will sweep the capital, these four groups, and then will come back using the relay points. They will pick up the mages along the way, all eight of them. Never fear my lord, it is being taken care of. Ah, yes the next shipment of grain will be next..."

                 A hand laid itself on Gaile's shoulder, silencing the rambling king.

                "Manifique, Gaile, mon cher, manifique." 

ΔΩΔ

  



	16. Gespräch

A/N: After a pathetically long time, something new appears and it is short. Apologies and thank yous to whoever is still reading this. The editing process is going slowly, but I decided to finish this scene instead of doing French homework.

Chapter 16

"Um...your majesty?" Raven looked into the office, a bit on edge. Why did he want to speak with her? Alone for that matter. The questioned prince motioned for the girl to enter, continuing to make notes as Raven stepped into the room.

Once again she examined the Prince's office, taking in the subtle architectural details until she came to the plastered ceiling once more. It really was a beautiful piece of work, the Ha'Minch thistle. The artisans had been very careful, even filling in the textures of each leaf and petal.

Staring up at the ceiling, appreciating the artwork, she did not hear the Prince at first.

"Excuse me, Miss Trallem...?" Liam asked, his light voice calling Raven back to reality.

"Y-yes." Raven snapped to attention, a faint blush creeping over her cheeks, as she looked back to the now standing prince. He had interesting eyes; they looked as though they knew what and where anything could happen. "Forgive me, your majesty-."

"Highness." Liam interjected calmly. "The proper terms for a prince are 'your highness', 'my prince' or 'my lord'...or you refer to them by name."

"Eh...yes, yes. Forgive me, your highness, for my lack of attention. What is it that require of me, my lord?"

Liam's mouth twitched into the hint of a smile at the violinist's use of the titles.

"I was wondering about your history, training and why your face seems new to me every time I look away, even though I know it has not changed?"

If Raven had not been asked such blunt questions before she likely would have jerked violently at having to lie or have her secrets laid bare.

"Ah...I see. May I sit, my prince?" Raven asked with a carefully wrought smile, sweet enough to be pleasant but not too sweet to attract specific attention. Liam waved a hand at the plush chairs that were opposite him at his desk, as he himself sat. Raven sat and thought of everything she could say without lying...just in case.

"I was born in Maren to a lower-class family; at a young age I started to help out by doing random little jobs...nothing too significant, mainly just keeping an eye on, and...carrying, a few things." So far, so good. "However, around my tenth birthday, I was apprenticed to and taken in by a middle-upper-class gentleman, who made his way as a music teacher and instrument maker. I basically kept an eye on supplies, while he taught me nearly everything I know...how to figure, read, play and fix several instruments."

"What happened to him? You speak of him in past tense." Raven looked Liam in the face, saw the genuine interest, and sighed, looking away.

"He died in a wagon accident." She said blandly. "One of his music friends took me in and helped me further develop my skill. Eventually, it came time for me to leave home...and, with no small degree of luck and chance, I found myself as a farming assistant in Tortall."

"Is that so?" Liam leaned back in his seat, using the shift in position to withdraw his toes momentarily from the small dish of burnbright powder stashed under his desk. Her story, while a bit dramatic, seemed sound and the powder hadn't detected a lie in it. "You still haven't answered all my questions, Miss Trallem. This illusion of yours..."

"Um...about that...It's not exactly mine..." Now Raven's mind went into overdrive. What could she say that wouldn't arouse suspicions of her or Anelee? "That is...Mistress Draper made it because people in the market place were...staring at us and-."

"Why does this illusion only remain on you?" interrupted Liam, a tad annoyed with the violinist's broken sentences. Raven kept her face calm as she formulated an excuse in her mind.

"I am guessing that Mistress Draper simply forgot to remove it, as she is rather tired at the present." Raven resisted the urge to shrug and calmly looked at the prince, waiting for his verdict. He looked pensive and as if he wanted to press for answers.

Abruptly, a knock of the office's door came, and the prince's aide, Edgard, stuck his head into the room. "Your Highness, if this is a bad time, I will inform the event decorators to come back another time."

Liam involuntarily groaned, withdrawing his foot from the dish of burnbright powder as he stood. Discretely wiping his foot on the carpet, he smiled pleasantly at Raven. "I hope we can continue our conversation some other time, Miss Trallem."

Raven, recognizing a dismissal, leapt to her feet, bowed and hurried out of the room, silently thanking all the Gods she could think of for the interruption. Meanwhile, Liam stuffed his foot into his boot, as he was barraged about questions about colour, fabric, flowers and everything else under a decorator's sun.

He would figure her out before the competition was over, just she wait.

SIE: Lordy, was that pathetic...


End file.
